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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


V 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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D 


D 


□ 


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Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagie 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
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This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film6  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu6  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

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26X 

30X 

y 

12X 


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24X 


28X 


32X 


laire 
I  details 
lues  du 
It  modifier 
iger  une 
B  filmage 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


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giniroslti  de: 

La  bibiiothdque  des  Archives 
publlques  du  Canada 

Las  Images  sulvantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soln,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  netteti  de  l'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


1/ 
u6es 


Original  copies  In  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
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the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  Impres- 
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sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  Impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  exemplalres  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim6e  sont  filmAs  en  commen9ant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
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plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplalres 
originaux  sont  filmis  en  commenpant  par  la 
premlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
darnlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signlfie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


lire 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  In  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
fiimds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff^rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  filmA  A  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'Images  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


by  errata 
led  to 

ent 

une  pelure, 

Fa^on  d 


1  2  3 


32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Th 


Read  e 


ARTICLE    I. 


The  North-Eastern  Boundary. 


Eead  before   the  Maine   Historical   Society,  at   Poj  t- 

LAND,  May  15,  1879, 


'/ 


BY 


HON.  ISKAEL  WASHBURN,  Jr.,  LLD. 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


I  shall  read  you,  this  morning,  a  chapter  of  concessions,  sub- 
missions and  humiliations  hy  which  the  otherwise  fair  record  of 
American  diplomacy  has  been  dimmed  and  stained. 

And  I  shall  do  this,  not  to  cast  reproach  upon  the  memory  of 
any  of  the  actors  in  the  deplorable  business,  whose  history  cul- 
minated, if  it  did  not  close,  in  the  so-called  i^shburton  Treaty, 
a  work  of  which  the  indulgent  criticism  of  the  most  friendly 
commentator  might  be  borrowed  from  Sheridan,  who,  S] leaking 
of  another  convention,  said,  "  It  was  one  of  which,  although 
some  were  glad,  nobody  was  proud."     Nor  shall  I  do  it  with 
the  expectation  that  anything  said  or  written  by  me,  or  by  any 
one  at  this  time,  can  avail  aught  towards  a  correction  of  the 
errors  and  mistakes  of  the  past.     But  rather  in  the  thought 
that  a  paper  which  may  serve  in  some  measure  to  keep  the 
history  and  the  lesson  alive  for  purposes  of  warning,  of  counsel 
and  of  suggestion  in  the  future,  will  be  neither  unworthy  nor 
unwelcome ;  and,  I  will  add,  with  the  further  impression,  that 
it  will  not  be  wholly  uninteresting  or  unprofitable  to  the  pres- 
ent generation  to  learn  something  more  than,  as  a  general  rule, 
those  who  compose  it  know  of  the  particular  history  of  the  im- 
portant, protracted  and  imbittered  controversy  which  preceded 
that  settlement. 

And,  besides  these  considerations,  I  have  sought  a  personal 
gratification  in  an  opportunity  to  express  my  sense  of  the  debt 


I      f 


4 


THE  NORTII-EASTEKN  BOUNDARY. 


due  frniii  tlic  people  of  M}iii)e  to  those  faitliful  iiia<;istrntes,  who, 
in  no  hour  of  [»ressure  or  of  alarm,  allowed,  for  a  single  moment, 
the  honor  of  the  State,  or  her  material  intere.its,  to  be  compro- 
mitted  by  any  action  of  the  commonwealth  over  whose  affairs 
they  presided.  Of  Enoch  Lincoln,  Edw'ird  Kent  and  John 
Fairfield  it  could  be  said  with  peculiar  force  and  propriety,  in 
the  words  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  tribute  to  Fox,  tlK^y 

"  Stood  by  their  country's  honor  fast, 
And  nailed  her  colors  to  the  mast." 

It  so  happened  in  the  history  of  the  negotiations  that  upon 
these  men  ratlier  than  upon  any  other  of  our  Governors,  fell 
the  chief  weight  of  responsibility,  and  the  most  unperative  de- 
mands for  decisive  action.  Nor  should  I  pass  from  this  grate- 
ful duty  without  some  reference  to  two  gentlemen  upon  whose 
patriotic  and  ardent  interest  in,  and  thorough  and  perfect 
knowledge  of,  the  questions  involved,  in  all  their  aspects  and 
relations,  these  functionaries  always  and  safely  relied.  I  refer 
to  Col.  John  G.  Deane,  of  Ellsworth — who  in  his  later  yedrs  was 
a  resident  of  Portland — and  to  the  Honorable  Charles  S.  Daveis, 
also  of  this  city. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  20th  of  September,  1875,  I  left 
Edmundston,  on  the  St.  John  lliver,  by  the  fine  military  road — 
constructed  at  great  expense  by  the  British  government  a 
quarter  of  a  century  before,  and  following,  in  the  main,  the 
route  traveled  by  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  in  1788 — leading 
from  the  river  St.  John  to  the  St.  La\^rence.  Wlien,  at  two 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  the  stage  reached  a  point  twenty-six 
miles  south  of  the  latter  river,  although  it  had  been  rainin"  for 
several  hours,  the  snow  was  more  than  a  foot  deep,  and  I  was 
informed  that  three  .days  before  its  depth  was  more  than  two 
feet ;  and  here  I  said,  without  doubt,  on  this  ele/ation,  fifteen 


THE  NOHTH-EAimEllN'  BOUNDARY. 


himdrcMl  fiet  abovo  tide-water,  are  the  "  lii^'hlands,"  of  wliich  I 
had  read  so  ip'ich  in  tlie  year.-.  i)recediM;,'  the  treaty  of  Wasli- 
iiigton.  For,  althoii«,di  that  treaty,  sometimes  called  the  Ash- 
burton  Treaty,  liad  been  conchided  tliirty-three  years  before  (in 
1842),  the  leading  facts  which  its  discussion  had  elicited,  or 
which  had  been  brought  out  in  the  years  preceding,  in  the 
correspondence  of  our  GoverTiors,  and  in  legislative  reports, 
were  t(-»o  deeply  written  upon  my  meniorv  not  to  be  at  call  at 
any  moment.  But  when  on  a  clear,  bright  August  day,  in 
1877,  I  came  from  the  St.  I«awrence,  at  lliver  L)u  Loup,  over 
the  same  road  to  Madawaska,  after  a  steady  general  ascent  of 
some  ten  miles,  a  comparatively  short  descent  brought  the  mail 
coach  (in  which  I  was  travelhig)  to  a  stream  wliich  my  com- 
panions said  wos  a  branch  of  the  river  St.  Francis,  and  sixteen 
miles  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  I  knew  that  we  were,  if  only  the 
treaty  of  1783  had  been  respected,  within  the  limits  of  the  State 
of  Maine — for  the  St.  Francis  is  owe  of  the  rivers  whose  waters 
descend  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean — and  Iiad  been  within  them  since 
our  journey  had  passed  the  fifteen  miles  bourne  from  the  river 
St.  Lawrence.  • 

The  high  ground,  which,  on  the  preceding  journey,  I  had 
mistaken  for  the  main  highland  range,  was  but  a  spur  of  it,  and 
the  true  dividing  ridge  was  teu  miles  to  the  northward.  It 
was  interesting  to  notice,  on  this  bright  day,  how  plainly 
marked  and  impossible  to  be  mistaken  was  the  treaty  boundary. 

Never  was  there  such  a  history  of  errors,  mistakes,  blunders, 
concessions,  explauvitions,  apologies,  losses  and  mortifications  on 
the  one  side;  Oi  inconsistencies,  aggressions,  encroachments, 
affronts  and  contempts  on  the  other,  as  that  wliich  has  respect 
to  this  boundary  question ;  and  in  the  calm  of  this  day,  when 
all  direct,  practical  i?''.terest  in  it  has  ceased,  and  the  sense  of 
wrong  and  indignity  has  slept  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  cen- 


THE  NOKTII-EASTERN  DOUNDAUY. 


tury,  it  is  impossible  for  one  to  read  it  with  anything  like  com- 
posure or  patience.  "•  '     •  , 

To  those  statesmen  and  writers  of  other  countries,  who  have 
represented  the  United  States  as  arrogant,  uncomfortal)le  and 
domineering,  I  would  commend  this  tale  of  the  sacrifice  of 
northern  Maine,  as  likely  to  afford  them  great,  if  not  endless 
comfort. 

Article  two  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  concluded  at  Paris  be- 
tween Great  P>ritain  and  the  United  States  in  1783,  so  far  as 
respects  the  question  of  the  north-eastern  boundary,  is  as  follows : 

"  From  the  north-west  angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  to  wit :  that 
angle  which  is  formed  by  a  line  drawn  due  north  from  the 
source  of  the  St.  Croix  River  to  the  highlands, — along  the  said 
liighlands  which  divide  those  rivers  that  empty  themselves  into 
the  St.  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
to  the  north-westernmost  head  of  Connecticut  River." 

This  is  the  northerly  line ;  the  easterly  is  described : — 

"  East,  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the  river 
St.  Croix,  from  its  mouth  in  the  P^ay  of  Fundy  to  its  source, 
and  from  its  source  directly  north  to  the  aforesaid  highlands 
which  divide  the  waters  that'  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from 
those  which  fall  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  comprehending  all 
islands  within  twenty  leagues  of  any  part  of  the  United  States, 
and  lying  between  the  Hues  to  be  drawn  due  east  from  the 
points  where  the  aforesaid  boundaries  between  Nova  Scotia  on 
the  one  part,  and  east  Florida  on  the  other,  shall  respectively 
touch  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  excepting  such 
islands  as  now  are  or  heretofore  have  been  within  the  limits  of 
the  said  Province  of  Nova  Scotia." 

This  language  seems  to  be  too  plain  to  admit  of  dispute,  and 
yet  under  it  four  questions  have  arisen  between  the  parties  to 


THE  NC^vTII-EASTKIlN  DOUNDAUY. 


the  treaty  :  First,  as  to  tlie  rivur  St.  Crubc ;  second,  an  to  whicli 
of  the  iillluents  of  the  St.  Croix,  was  the  source  of  that  river 
with ui  the  intention  of  tlie  treaty;  third,  as  to  the  islands  in 
P(i,s«Ji"in,quoddy  Hay;  fourth,  as  to  the  north-west  an^de  of 
Nova  Scotia  and  tlie  highlands  that  divide  the  rivers  that  iall 
into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  those  which  empty  themselves 
into  the  St.  Lawrence.  And  (ill  of  them  have  heen  dceided 
ayainst  the  United  States. 

I  propose  a  brief  examination  of  each. 

I.  The  first  question  that  arose  was  in  regard  to  which  nf 
three  rivers  falling  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy  was  the  St.  Croix 
contemplated  by  the  treaty.  The  question  was  plain,  and  easy 
of  solution.  These  rivers  had  all  be^n  known  and  described  at 
some  time  by  the  name  of  St.  Croix.  The  most  easterly  had 
been  called  also  the  Magaquadavic ;  the  intermediate  tlic 
Schoodic ;  the  most  westerly  the  Cobscook.  That  the  first  named 
is  the  St.  Croix  of  the  treaty,  is  so  plahi,  I  trust,  that  but  few 
words  will  be  needed  for  a  clear  understanding  of  the  case. 

Soon  after  the  treaty  of  1783,  the  inhabitants  of  Nova  Scotia 
(that  part  which  is  now  New  Brunswick)  were  found  occupy- 
ing, and  claiming  as  British  subjects  to  hold  the  territory  be- 
tween the  Magaquadavic  and  the  Schoodic  Rivers,  and  particu- 
larly that  near  the  present  town  of  St.  Andrews.  Massachu- 
setts objected,  claiming  the  territory  as  her  own,  and  made 
complaint  to  Congress  of  these  encroachments,  and  was  by  tlie 
latter  body  requested  to  cause  inquiry  into  the  facts  to  be  made. 
In  pursuance  of  this  solicitation,  it  appointed  a  cummissioii,  of 
which  two  members,  Generals  Knox  and  Lincoln,  visited  l*assa- 
maquoddy  in  the  year  1784,  and  on  the  19th  of  October  of  that 
year,  made  their  report  to  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts.  Jii 
this  report,  they  say : 


u 

I 


8 


THE  NORTII-FASTEUN  BOITXDARY. 


"  They  beg  lonvo  to  inform  your  Excellency  tlmt  a  very  consid- 
erablo  number  of  liritisb  subjoct.s  arc  settled  at  a  placo  called  St. 
Andrews,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river  Schoodic,  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  your  connuissioners,  is  clearly  within  the  limits  of  this 

State. 

"  By  your  Excellency's  leave,  tlioy  will  rocito  a  short  state  of 
facts  on  which  this  opinion  was  formed. 

"There  are  three  very  considerable  rivers  which  empty  them- 
selves into  the  bay  Passamaqiioddy,  which  is  five  to  seven  leagues 
wide.  The  eastern  river  falls  into  the  bay  about  a  league  from  the 
head  of  it,  and  pori)endicular  to  the  eastern  side;  the  middle  river 
falls  into  the  bay  far  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  head  of  it,  and  in 
a  direction  parallel  therewith  ;  the  western  rivor  falls  into  the  bay 
about  six  leagues  from  the  head  of  it  on  the  westerly  side,  and 
nearly  perpendicular  to  it ;  all  of  which  in  late  British  maps  are 
called  St.  Croix.  The  first  is  by  the  Indians  called  Maggadava, 
the  second  Schoodick,  the  third  Cobscook. 

"From  every  information  the  subscribers  could  obtain  on  inquiry 
of  thu  Indians  and  others,  the  eastern  river  was  the  original  St. 
Croix.  This  is  about  three  leagues  east  of  St.  Andrews,  where  the 
Britisli  inhabitants  have  made  a  settlement.  Soon  after  the  sub- 
scribers received  their  commission,  they  wrote  to  Mr.  Jay  request- 
ing him  to  give  them  i.iformation  whether  the  Commissioners  for 
negotiating  the  peace  confined  themselves  in  tracing  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  United  States  to  any  particular  map,  and  if  any  one,  to 
what  '■'  Since  their  return  they  received  his  answer,  mentioning 
that  Mitchell's  map  was  the  07ili/  one  that  the  commission  used, 
and  on  tit  at  they  traced  the  boundaries  agreed  to. 

"  On  this  map  two  rivers  were  laid  down  ;  the  western  was  called 
thereon  the  Passamaquoddy,  and  the  eastern  the  St.  Croix.'^ 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Passamaquoddy  is  the  river  at 
other  times  called  the  Schoodic. 

The  Commissioners  also  say,  "  The  subscribers  further  repre- 
sent that  they  find  in  the  maps  of  a  quarto  volume  published 


TIIK  NORTII-EASTRIiN  nOUXnAHY.  9 

ill  Pnrift  in  1774,  from  Cliarlevoix's  voynj^o  to  Nortli  Anu'ricn, 
iiiiuU!  in  1044,  two  rivers  dulineiiti'd  at  the  lu^ud  of  tlie  Itay  of 
PasMuiiia(iU(Hl(ly,  the  western  of  wliich  is  called  Passaniaqiioddy, 
and  the  eastern  St.  Croix." 

The  westernmost  river,  the  Cohseook,  is  much  smaller  than 
either  of  the  others,  and  is  not  laid  down  on  all  the  maps. 

But  as  to  the  fact  that  the  true  St.  Croix  was  east  of  the 
Passamaquoddy — otherwise  called  Schoodic  lliver — there  seems 
to  bo  no  doubt.  Whatever  doubt  mi<j;ht  possibly  have  other- 
wise existed  is  wholly  removed  by  the  testimony  of  Surveyor 
Mitchell,  given  in  an  affidavit  on  the  9th  of  Octoljer,  1 784,  as 
follows: 

"  Tho  subscriber,  an  inhabitant  of  Chester,  in  the  State  of  Now 
Hampshire,  voluntarily  makes  the  following  declaration,  to  wit : 
that  I  was  employed  by  his  Excellency,  Francis  Bernard,  Esq., 
Governor  of  tho  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  April,  17(54,  in 
company  with  Mr.  Israel  Jones  as  my  deputy,  Mr.  Nathan  Jones 
as  commanding  officer  of  a  party  of  troops,  and  Cai)tain  Fletcher 
as  Indian  interpreter,  to  rejiair  to  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  to 
assemble  tho  Indians  usually  residing  there,  and  from  them  to 
ascertain  tho  river  known  aa  the  St.  Croix.  Wo,  accordingly, 
assembled  upwards  of  forty  of  the  principal  Indians  upon  an 
island  then  called  L'Atereel,  in  the  said  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy. 
After  having  fully  and  freely  conversed  with  them  upon  the 
subject  of  our  mission,  the  Chief  commissioned  three  Indians  to 
show  us  the  said  river  St.  Croix,  which  is  situated  nearly  six  miles 
north,  and  about  three  degrees  east  of  harbor  L'Tete,  and  east 
north-east  of  the  bay  or  river  Schoodick,  and  distant  from  it  about 
nine  miles  on  a  right  line.  The  aforesaid  three  Indians,  after 
having  shown  us  the  river,  and  being  duly  informed  of  the 
nature  and  importance  of  an  oath,  did  in  a  solemn  manner  depose 
to  the  truth  of  their  information  respecting  the  identity  of  the 
said  river  St.  Croix,  and  that  it  was  the  ancient  and  only  river 


l<— i™^!' 


10 


THE  NOETII-EASTEKN  BOUNDARY. 


it.;*  #  1 

i      ,, 

^1 

known  among  them  by  that  name.  We  proceeded  conformably  to 
this  information  in  our  surveys ;  and,  in  August  following,  I  de- 
livered to  Gov.  Bernard  three  plans  of  the  said  river  St.  Croix 
and  the  said  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy." 

This  statement  of  Mitchell  is  confirmed  in  every  respect  by 
the  deposition  of  Nathan  Jones,  given  March  17,  1785,  who 
states  that  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Bernard  in  1764,  com- 
mander of  a  party  to  explore  the  woods  and  view  the  rivers, 
bays,  &c.,  to  ascertain  the  river  St.  Croix  dividing  the  Province 
of  Massachusetts  Bay  from  Nova  Scotia,  and  to  perform  a  sur- 
vey thereof.  He  said  the  river  "  St.  Croix  was  then  known  as 
the  Maggacadava." 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  17 04,  when  this  survey  and 
these  plans  were  made,  ]\Iassachusetts  Bay  and  Nova  Scotia 
were  both  Provinces  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  the  object  of 
Gov.  Bernard,  as  a  faithful  servant  of  the  Crown,  was  to  find 
and  determine  the  true  line.  He  had  no  interest  to  do  anything 
else.  He  appointed  his  Surveyor  and  other  officers :  they  made 
their  report  (which  in  respect  to  this  line  was  in  conformity 
with  the  map  of  John  Mitchell  made  eighteen  years  before), 
and  he  accepted  and  acted  upon  it ;  and  from  that  date  to  the 
time  of  the  treaty,  the  line  so  found  was  the  established,  the 
recognized,  and  the  undisputed  line  between  these  Provinces. 
Thus  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  all  that  then  belonged  to  Massa- 
chusetts, all  that  did  not  belong  to  Nova  Scotia,  was  ceded  to 
the  United  States.  The  river  St.  Croix,  dividing  these  Provinces, 
had  been  ascertained,  and  declared  in  the  report  of  1764,  as  it  had 
also  been  laid  down  on  the  map  used  by  the  Commissioners 
themselves.     The  question  was  settled. 

It  has  been  seen  by  the  reports  of  Generals  Knox  and  Lincoln 
that  Mitchell's  map  (although  other  maps  were  before  them) 
was  the  only  one  "  used  "  by  the  Commissioners  when  the  treaty 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


11 


was  made,  and  that  the  line  was  drawn  thereon.  Not  only  is 
there  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Jay  to  this  Tect,  but  there  is  also 
that  of  John  Adams.  Writing  from  Auteuil,  near  l*aris,  October 
25,  1784,  to  Governor  Gushing,  he  says: 

"We  had  before  us  through  the  whole  negotiation,  several  maps, 
but  it  was  Mitchell's  map  upon  which  we  marked  out  the  whole  of 
the  boundary  lines  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  river  St.  Croix 
which  we  fixed  on,  teas  u2)on  that  map  nearest  to  St.  John  ;  so 
that  in  all  equity,  good  conscience  and  honor,  the  river  next  to  St. 
John's  should  be  the  boundary.  I  am  glad  the  General  Court  are 
taking  early  measures,  and  hope  they  will  pursue  them  steadily 
until  the  point  is  settled,  which  it  may  be  now  amicably ;  if  neg- 
lected long,  it  may  be  more  difficult." 

Nor  does  the  testiinony  stop  here.  Dr.  Franklin  was  one  of 
the  Commissioners  by  whom  the  Treaty  of  Peace  was  negoti- 
ated, and  on  the  8th  of  April,  1790,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jefierson, 
he  writes :  ■ 

"  I  can  assure  you  that  I  am  perfectly  clear  in  the  remembrance 
that  the  map  we  used  in  tracing  the  boundary  was  hrought  to  the 
treaty  by  the  Commissioners  from  England,  and  that  it  was  the 
same  as  that  published  by  Mitchell  twenty  years  before.  Having 
a  copy  of  that  map  by  me  in  loose  sheets,  I  send  you  that  slieet 
which  contains  the  bay  of  Passamaquoddy,  where  you  will  see  that 
part  of  the  boundary  traced.  I  remember,  too,  that  in  that  part 
of  the  boundary  we  relied  much  on  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Adams,  who 
had  been  concerned  in  some  former  disputes  concerning  these  terri- 
tories. #  *  *  That  themapweused  ivasMitcltelVs  ma.}), 
Congress  loere  acquainted  at  the  time  by  letter  to  their  Secretary 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  which  I  suppose  may  be  found  upon  their  files." 

One  would  suppose  that  upon  this  record,  nothing  coukl  be 
more  clear  and  certain  than  that  the  river  now  called  the  Mag- 
aquadavic,  was  the  true  St.  Croix  that  divided  the  Provinces  of 


\ 


12 


THE  NORTH-EASTEKN  BOUNDARY. 


Massachusetts  Bay  and  Nova  Scotia.  It  was  purely  a  question 
of  fact,  not  of  convenience  or  argument.  Did  Messrs.  Jay, 
Adams  and  Franklin  state  the  facts  in  the  letters  tliat  have 
been  quoted  ?  That  they  did  has  never,  to  my  knowledge,  been 
disputed.  One  will  be  curious  to  learn  upon  what  plausible  or 
possible  grounds  it  could  be  claimed  that  the  Schoodic,  or  Passa- 
maquoddy,  was  the  St.  Croix  River  agreed  upon  and  marked  by 
the  Comnnssioners  as  the  treaty  river. 

In  the  first  place,  no  sooner  had  the  treaty  been  ratified  than 
the  British  Government  changed  the  ground  on  which  it  had 
established  its  claims  against  the  French,  and  adopted  that  of 
France.  So  that  Mr.  Jay,  our  Minister  at  London,  was  well 
justified  in  the  prediction  made  to  Mr.  Randolph,  our  Secretary 
of  State,  in  a  letter  written  November  19, 1794,  in  which  he 
said: 

"  In  discussing  the  question  about  the  river  St.  Croix  before  the 
Commissioners,"  (Commissioners  had  at  tliis  time  been  agreed  upon 
by  the  treaty  of  1794,  known  as  Jay's  treaty,  for  determiring  the  St. 
Croix),  "  I  apprehend  the  old  French  claims  tvill  be  revived.  We 
must  adhere  to  Mitchell's  map.  The  Vice  President "  (Mr.  Adams) 
*' perfectly  understood  this  business." 

In  pursuance  of  the  5th  article  of  this  treaty  of  1794,  a  com- 
mission, consisting  of  Thomas  Barclay,  David  Howell  (English-  yC, 
men),  and  Egbert  Benson  (American),  was  appointed  to  decide 
the  question, "  What  river  was  the  true  St.  Croix  contemplated  in 
the  treaty  of  peace,  and  forming  a  part  of  the  boundary  therein 
described?" 

In  the  argument  made  by  the  British  agent  before  these 
Commissioners,  it  was  contended  first,  that  by  an  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment, in  the  year  1774,  a  line  between  Nova  Scotia  and  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  was  recognized  which  made  the  Schoodic  Eiver 
the  boundary  between  these  Provinces. 


(Ic^Si 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


13 


It  will  be  observed  that  even  if  it  should  appear  that  the 
Schoodic  was  recognized  as  the  St.  Croix,  or  as  a  St.  Croix,  by 
Act  of  Parliament  in  1774,  that  that  fact  could  in  no  way 
affect  the  other  and  controlling  one;  that  the  Commissioners 
decided  that  the  Magaquadavic  was  the  St.  Croix  which  was  to 
form  the  boundary,  and  traced  it  as  such  upon  the  official  map. 

But  this  point  does  not  seem  to  have  been  greatly  relied 
upon.  The  main  contention  was  really  an  appeal  to  considera- 
tions of  convenience  and  accommodation.  The  agent  exerted 
himself  to  maintain  that  the  American  construction  would 
carry  the  line  to  within  a  short  distance  of  Fredericton,  and 
would,  by  separating  the  sources  of  certain  rivers  running  into 
the  Bay  of  Chaleurs  from  their  mouths,  produce  such  incon- 
venience that  it  could  lint  bo  supposed  that  such  a  line  was  in 
the  minds  of  the  parties  who  negotiated  the  treaty.  But,  when  it 
is  considered  that  the  line  from  the  source  of  the  St.  Croix,  as 
decided  by  these  Commissioners  of  1794  themselves,  crosses 
the  same  streams  that  fall  into  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  as  well  as 
the  river  St.  John,  a  river  which  falls  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
separating  its  source  from  its  debouchure,  the  assumption  falls 
to  the  ground.  It  is  employed,  however,  to  prove  that  as  the 
parties  would  respectively  wish  to  secure  within  their  own 
limits  the  entire  course  of  the  streams  which  had  an  outlet 
therein,  they  would  fix  upon  that  river  as  the  true  St.  Croix  of 
the  treaty,  which  would  most  nearly  compass  this  desirable 
end.  ^ 

That  this  consideration  had  no  practical  weight  with  the 
Commissioners  by  whom  the  treaty  of  peace  was  made,  appears 
not  merely  from  the  fact  already  stated,  that  the  line  did  divide 
the  sources  of  several  important  rivers  from  their  mouths,  but  also 
from  the  fact  that  the  north-west  angle  of  Nova  Scotia  (which, 
by  the  treaty,  was  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the  United  States) 


14 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


! 


was  known  by  all  the  parties  to  the  treaty.  It  was  a  point  on 
the  southerly  border  of  Canada,  and  that  border  was,  and  long 
had  been,  fixed  upon  a  range  of  highlands  well  defined,  and 
situated  but  a  short  distance  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Eiver. 
The  angle  was  formed  on  this  border  by  a  line  drawn  due  north 
from  the  source  of  the  river  St.  Croix.  That  this  angle  on  the 
southerly  boundary  of  Quebec  (Canada),  was  so  located  that  a 
line  to  it  from  the  river  St.  Croix,  whether  that  river  was  the 
Sclioodic  or  tlie  Magaquadavic,  would  intersect  rivers  which  had 
their  mouths  within  British  territory,  was  known  to  the  Com- 
missioners as  a  fact  that  was  beyond  question.  Everybody 
knew  it ;  nobody  doubted  it.  To  found  an  argument  from  it 
for  a  change  of  the  river  from  the  one  agreed  upon,  implies  a 
belief  on  the  part  of  the  British  agent  that  the  United  States, 
in  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  country,  would  stand  a  great 
deal  of  injustice  before  going  to  war  again. 

Great  Britain,  as  has  happened  several  times  since,  and  nota- 
bly in  the  late  fisheries  controversy,  had  the  good  fortune  to  be 
strongly  represented  on  the  St.  Croix  Commission,  while  the 
side  of  the  United  States  was  but  feebly  and  inadequately  sup- 
ported ;  and  so  in  1798,  the  former  succeeded  in  ol)taining  a 
report  declaring  the  northerly  branch  of  the  Schoodic  to  be  the 
boundary  line.  She  had  claimed  the  westerly  branch,  and  all 
her  arguments  applied  to  that  line,  and  were  based  on  grounds 
that  rendered  the  acceptance  of  a  more  easterly  branch  inconsist- 
ent and  entirely  inadmissable.  She  had  demanded  a  line  that 
would  have  brought  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick  to  near 
the  Passadumkeag  Eiver,  and  which  would  have  nullified  or 
contradicted  every  essential  provision  of  the  treaty,  and  she 
gained  (doubtless  all  that  she  ever  expected)  a  compromise  line. 
The  plain  provisions  of  the  treaty  and  all  its  undisputed  history 
were  set  aside. 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


15 


By  this  settlement,  which  covered  the  only  question  as 
to  the  boundary,  then  in  dispute,  and  which  proceeded  all  along 
on  the  mutual  understanding  that  the  line  north  of  the  source 
of  the  St.  Croix,  was  where  the  United  States  claimed  it  to  be, 
the  State  of  Maine  lost  a  strip  of  territory  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  miles  in  breadth,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
miles  in  length,  including  all  that  is  west  of  the  Magaquadavic 
Kiver,  and  all  that  is  west  of  the  river  St.  John  from  a  point 
near  the  Meductic  rapids  some  twenty  miles  below  Woodstock, 
embracing  that  fine  town  and  the  unrivalled  farming  tract  above 
and  below  it  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  St.  John,  as  well  as 
an  extensive  territory  east  of  the  river. 

II.  But  our  bad  fortune  did  not  stop  here.  The  Commis- 
sioners, having  agreed  upon  the  river,  decided  that  its  source 
was  in  what  is  now  known  as  Round  Lake,  the  same,  I  suppose, 
that  is  laid  down  as  North  Lake  on  Greenleaf's  map  of  1815  ; 
but,  when  they  came  to  make  their  report,  for  reason^  which  I 
have  never  been  al)le  to  learn,  substituted  Cheputnecook  for 
Eound  Lake,  and  thereby  gave  to  New  Brunswick  a  tract  of 
country  of  the  average  breadth  of  ten  milijs,  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  long ;  and  more  by  so  much  than  was  actually 
required,  even  upon  the  hypothesis  that  the  Schoodic  was  the 
true  St.  Croix. 

III.  The  next  question  that  arose  under  the  treaty,  was  in 
regard  to  the  islands  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay ;  and  this,  too,  was 
decided  in  favor  of  Great  Britain.  By  conceding  the  title  of 
Maine  to  Moose  Island  (Eastport) — which  could  never  have 
been  in  more  doubt  than  her  title  to  Mt.  Desert — she  acquired 
Campo  Bello,  and  Grand  Menan,  a  large  island  on  our  coast 
west  of  Eastport.  This  decision,  while  greatly  objectionable, 
and  unsupported  by  the  treaty,  did  not  do  such  gross  violence 
to  its  terms,  or  to  its  history,  as  did  that  in  respect  to  the  St. 


le 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


^- 


ii< 


Croix.  It  was  made  November  24,  1817,  by  Thomas  Barclay 
and  Jolin  Holmes,  Commissioners  appointed  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  4th  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  December  24, 
1814. 

IV.  For  twenty  years  subsequent  to  1794  (or  the  date  of 
Jay's  treaty),  there  was  no  denial'of  the  claims  of  the  United 
States  respecting  the  treaty  line,  north  of  the  source  of  the  St. 
Croix,  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain ;  but,  on  the  contrary  she 
many  times,  and  in  various  ways,  assumed  their  correctness,  and 
acted  upon  that  assumption.  In  the  hearing  before  the  Com- 
missioners under  this  treaty,  she  asserted  it,  and  obtained  a  de- 
cision for  which  she  argued  on  the  basis  of  that  assertion.  In 
1803,  there  was  a  convention  between  the  two  nations  (which 
the  United  States  failed  to  ratify  or  account  of  a  provision 
touching  our  Western  possessions),  in  which  was  inserted  a 
clause  for  running  the  line  between  the  source  of  the  Sc.  Croix 
and  the  north-west  angle  of  Nova  Scotia.  It  was  a  misfortune, 
so  far  as  this  State  was  concerned,  that  this  convention  was  not 
ratified,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  it  had  been,  the  line 
would  have  been  run  and  established  as  clauned  by  the  United 
States ;  for,  at  that  tune,  there  was  no  thought  or  suggestion  of 
any  other  line. 

In  1804  and  1807,  the  s^ibject  of  running  the  line  according  to 
the  treaty  was  referred  to  by  the  British  Government  in  terms 
implying  tliat  there  was  no  difference  of  opinion  between  the 
parties  as  to  its  construction.  Massachusetts  had  exercised 
undisputed  jurisdiction  over  the  territory  afterwards  brought  into 
question.  In  1792,  she  sold  to  Henry  Jackson  and  Royal  Flmt 
a  large  tract  of  land  lying  within  the  claim  afterwards  set 
up  by  Great  Britain ;  and  in  1794,  Park  Holland  and  Jona- 
than Mayhew  made  a  survey  of  the  tract  extendmg  from  the 
St.  Croix  almost  to  the  highlands  dividing  the  waters  of  the 


THE  NORTII-EASTEUN  BOUNDARY. 


17 


St.  John  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  which  they  were  prevented 
from  completing  only  by  lack  of  provisions.  This  survey  was 
laid  down  on  a  map  of  Mahic  drawn  by  Osgood  Carleton,  in 
1795.  In  1797,  Massachusetts  granted  from  the  territory, 
afterwards  in  dispute,  half  a  township  to  Deerfield  Academy. 
lu  1806,  a  grant  of  a  half  township  was  made  to  General  Eaton, 
and  in  1808,  a  whole  township  was  granted  to  the  town  of 
Plymouth. 

Down  to  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  the  question  stood  in 
this  way : 

1.  The  language  of  the  treaty  was  plain,  undisputed,  indis- 
putable. Let  us  turn  to  this  language  once  more,  and  see  if  it 
is  open  to  doubt.  "From  the  north-west  angle  of  Nova  Scotia, 
to  wit :  that  anyle  which  is  formed  by  a  line  draion  due  north 
from'  the  source,  of  the  St.  Croix  River  to  the  highlands  which 
divide  those  rivers  that  emptg  themselves  into  the  St.  Lawrence 
from  those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  to  the  north- 
westernmost  head  of  Connecticut  River.  *  *  East  hy  a  line 
to  he  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  from  its 
mouth  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  its  source,  and  from  its  source 
directly  north  to  the  aforc^avl  Idfjldands  ivJiich  divide  the  rivers 
that  fall  into  the  AtUmiic  (k-crni.  from  those  v)hich  fall  into  the 
river  St.  Lawrence." 

2.  Great  Britain  had  raised  no  question  as  to  the  validity  of 
our  claim  in  respect  to  this  line,  but,  in  order  to  secure  her  own 
interpretation  as  to  the  river  St.  Croix,  had  deUberately  admitted 
it,  and  thereupon  laid  a  foundation  for  an  argument,  to  con- 
vince the  Commissioners  of  the  justice  of  her  contention  in 
regard  to  the  river,  and  had  furtlier  admitted  it  by  the  terms  of 
the  Convention  of  1803. 

3.  Massachusetts  had  exercised  unquestioned  and  undis- 
turbed jurisdiction  over  the  territory  for  more  than  twenty  years. 


18 


THE  NOR^II-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


I' 


M 


But,  by  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812-15,  England  had  learned 
something  of  the  [)robable  value  of  a  way  between  her  eastern 
and  western  Trovinces,  and  thrt  f;'.ich  a  way  would  most  conven- 
iently, if  not  necessarily,  lead  across  the  State  of  Maine.  She 
affected  to  believe  (and  therein  was  a  grave  affront)  that  that 
war  was  waged  by  the  United  States  in  part  for  the  conquest  of 
the  Canadas,  and  insisted  that  it  was  therefore  reasonable  and 
proper  that  she  should  take  steps  to  protect  them  against  future 
attacks.  On  the  fourth  of  September,  1814,  her  Mudster  at 
Ghent  wrote  to  our  Mirister  as  follows :  "  If,  then,  the  security 
of  the  British  North  American  dominions  requires  any  sacrifice" 
(note  the  word)  "on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  it  must  be  as- 
cribed to  the  declared  policy  of  that  government  in  making  the 
war  not  one  of  self-defence,  nor  for  the  redress  of  grievances,  real  or 
pretended,  but  a  part  of  a  system  of  conquest  and  aggrandizement." 

But,  even  under  the  spur  of  this  source  of  apprehension.  Great 
Britain  was  not  prepared  to  assert  that,  by  the  treaty  line,  the 
road-way  was  not  in  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  She  ad- 
mitted that  it  was,  and  askeu  for  a  conventional  line. 

On  the  eighth  of  August,  1814,  the  British  Commissioners, 
who  were  then  engaged  in  an  effort  to  make  peace,  in  a  note  to 
the  American  Commissioners,  describe  their  request  as  "  such  a 
VARIATION  of  the  line  of  frontier  as  may  secure  a  direct  commu- 
nication hetioeen  Qiielcc  and  Halifax."  To  this,  on  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  August,  the  American  Commissioners  replied  that 
they  had  "  no  authority  to  cede  any  part  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States,"  and  could  agree  to  no  such  line.  The  British 
Commissioners,  on  the  fourth  of  September,  return  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  say  that  they  are  "persuaded  that  an  arrangement 
on  this  point  might  easily  be  made,  if  entered  into  in  a  spirit  of 
conciliation,  without  any  prejudice  to  the  interests  of  the  dis- 
trict in  question."      From  this,  it  would  seem  that  England  did 


THE  NORTH-EASTEIIN  BOUNDAllY. 


10 


not  ask  for  a  clear  title,  Init  only  for  an  easement,  or  right  of 
way.  But,  however  this  may  have  been,  the  Anierican  Com- 
missioners, on  the  ninth  of  September,  protested  once  more  that 
they  }>ad  no  authority  to  cede  any  part  of  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, cvcyi /or  rt?i  cqidvalcnt"  Ihit  this  plain  and  decisive 
answer  did  not  silence  the  Britif^h  Commissioners ;  it,  however, 
led  them  to  change  their  base  and  plrai  of  attack.  And  so  we 
rind  them,  on  the  eighth  of  Octo^^T,  replying  that  the  1  iritis!  i 
Government  "  never  required  that  all  that  portion  of  Massaclni- 
setts  intervening  between  the  Provinces  of  New  Brunswick  and 
Quebec  should  be  ceded  to  Great  Britain;  but  only  that  sinall 
portion  of  unsettled  country  which  interrupts  the  communica- 
tion between  Quebec  and  Halifax,  there  hcing  much  douU  vjhethcr 
it  does  not  already  belong  to  Great  Britain." 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  when  at  last  the  British  Commission- 
ers found  themselves  compelled  to  take  a  new  departure,  and 
occupy  a  position  inconsistent  with  aF.  their  previous  claims, 
and  arguments  and  concessions,  the  new  rclle  was  so  strange, 
that  in  opening  it  they  could  not  avoid  confessmg,  by  their 
language,  that  it  was  a  false  one.  They  spoke  of  a  cession,  i.  e., 
of  a  grant,  of  a  "  small  portion  "  of  country  that  "  interrupts  the 
communication  between  Quebec  and  Halifax."  As  that  inter- 
ruption was  between  the  Grand  Falls  on  the  St.  John  and  the 
river  St.  Lawrence,  it  results  that  at  this  time  the  American 
title  north  of  the  former  river  was  acknowledged,  and  a  cession 
of  a  small  part  of  it  only  solicited. 

This  was  the  prelude  to  the  doubt,  raised  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  this  question,  as  to  the  pjrfectness  of  the  Ameri- 
can title — a  doubt  not  only  unmentioned,  but  unexisting,  until 
after  it  had  been  discovered  that  no  propositions  for  a  new  line 
would  be  entertamed  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States. 
There  was  then  no  alternative  for  Great  Britain  but  to  lay  the 


90 


THE  NOUTII-EASTEUN  BOUNDARY. 


fouiulatioii  for  a  dispute,  nml  soe  what  would  come  out  of  it. 
But  even  then,  she  was  not  i)iepared  to  claim  as  hers,  l)y  the 
terms  of  the  treaty,  the  territory  which  she  lin''  '  »r3istently 
urged,  and  still  conthiued  to  urge  the  governmciiL  ui  the  United 
States  to  cede  to  her. 

Finding  that  no  "  variation,"  "  cession,"  "  revision,"  or  "  ar- 
rangement" could  1)0  obtained  through  the  American  Commis- 
sioners, a  provision — being  the  Oth  article  of  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent — was  agreed  upon  for  running  the  line  (not  for  making  a- 
new  one)  in  conl'ormity  with  the  treaty  of  1783.  It  was  further 
stipulated  that  in  case  a  failure  to  run  the  line  by  the  Commis- 
sioners, to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose,  the  differences  arising 
])etween  the  parties  should  be  referred  to  the  decision  of  a 
friendly  Sovereign. 

Thomas  Barclay,  of  whom  we  have  heard  more  than  once 
before,  as  a  Commissioner  under  the  treaty,  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain,  and  Cornelius  P.  Van  Ness,  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  were  a})pointed  Commissioners  to  ascertain  and  run  the 
Une.  An  actual  survey  was  arranged,  and  surveyors  appointed, 
to  wit :  Charles  Tamer,  Jr.,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and 
Colin  Campbell  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  About  twenty 
miles  of  the  line  was  surveyed,  then  the  work  was  discontinued, 
never  to  be  resumed ;  but  an  exploring  survey  was  commenced 
by  Col.  Bouchette,  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  John 
Johnson,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  These  gentlemen 
made  an  exploring  line  in  1817,  extending  ninety-nine  miles 
from  the  monument  at  the  head  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  and  made- 
separate  reports  of  their  doings.  In  1818,  Mr.  Johnson,  with 
Mr.  Odell,  who  had  taken  the  place  of  Col.  Bouchette,  finished 
running  the  exploring  line  to  the  Beaver  or  Metis  Eiver.  It 
was  in  this  year  that  the  opinion  was  first  expressed  by  the 
Briiish  agent,  ^liat  Mprs  Hill,  an  isolated  mountain  south  of 


THE  NOUTII-EASTKUN  DOUNDAUY. 


21 


the  Aroostook  "^iver,  niij^'lit  be  the  imrtli-west  nngle  of  Nova 
Scotia,  and  the  iiorth-eiisteni  boundary  of  Elaine.  And  lif. 
havhiuj  f^dven  expression  to  this  novrl  ;nid  iirepost(»rons  {.'onct'p- 
tion,  prop«)Sed  to  diseontiiiiie  the  .survey  alon;^  the  hi^;ldands 
south  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  return  to  Mars  Hill,  and  ex-' 
j)lore  thence  westerly  towards  the  sources  of  the  Chaudiure  nnd 
Kennebec.  The  result  was  that  the  surveyors  disairreed,  the 
British  surveyor  refused  to  «,'o  on  and  finish  the  exploring  sur- 
vey now  almost  completed,  and  the  work  was  abaniloned. 

From  this  tune.  Great  Britain  began  to  assert  title  in  herself 
to  the  country  north  of  Mars  Hill,  hesitatingly  at  first,  but  more 
positively  afterwards.  To  enable  her  to  do  this,  even  to  her 
own  acceptance,  she  was  compelled  to  rely  on  the  quibble  here- 
tofore mentioned,  that  a  line  due  north  from  the  source  of  the 
St.  Croix  would,  before  reaching  the  north-west  angle  of  N(jva 
Scotia,  as  claimed  by  the  United  States,  and  as  laid  down  in  all 
the  Provincial  charters  and  connnissions  of  royal  Governors, 
cross  several  streams  that  flow  into  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs ;  and, 
therefore,  these  highlands  would  not  divide  waters  that  empt}'' 
themselves  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall 
into  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

And  it  signified  nothing  to  her  that  it  was  answered,  that  the 
plain  meaning  of  the  treaty  was  to  find  highlands  which 
divided  rivers  flowmg  into  the  St.  Lawrence  from  those  falling 
into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  directly,  or  throu;4h  some  bay  or  gulf. 
It  was  iiL  xwm  that  it  was  replied  that  this  new  interpretation 
defeats  the  treaty  line  altogether;  for  by  it,  even  the  river 
St.  John  does  not  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  but  into  the  Bay 
of  Fundy.  If  these  highlands  are  denied  because  they  cannot 
be  reached  before  crossing  the  waters  of  the  Restigouche,  neither 
can  they  without  crossing  the  St.  John,  the  Aroostook,  the 
Meduxnekeag  and  other  rivers.    The  Penobscot  River  does  not 


00 


TUK  NORTII-KASTERN  noUXDARY. 


fi\ll  into  tlio  Atlantic  Ocean  u])nn  this  intcrpn^tntion,  but  into 
iV'nohscot  Hay;  tlio  Ki-nnoUcc  Hows  inti>  the  Hay  of  Sa^nulalioc, 
and  not  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  There  are,  upon  this  view, 
Hit  rivers  on  our  coast  that  fall  into  the  Atlantic.  It  was  in 
vain  that  it  was  said  that,  upon  the  Ihitish  contention,  the  line 
(lues  not  divide  any  rivers  that  fall  into  the  St.  Lawrence  from 
any  other  rivers  whatever;  that  it  divides  only  those  falling 
into  the  St.  John  on  the  north  and  east  from  those  fallin*,'  into 
the  Penohscot  and  Kennebec  on  the  south  and  west,  and  not 
any  that  How  into  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  one  side  from  any 
that  flow  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  other ;  that  it  was 
}><»inted  out  that  on  the  Ih'ilish  construction,  both  the  St. 
Lawrence  Eiver  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  were  completely  erased 
from  the  treaty.  And  it  availed  nothing  that  the  absolutely 
unanswerable  point  was  made,  that  the  southerly  line  of  the 
Province  of  Quebec  ran  along  highlands  which  divided  waters 
that  fall  into  the  St.  Lawrence  liom  those  which  flow  into  the 
ocean  through  the  P)ays  of  Clialeurs,  Fundy,  Penobscot,  &c.,  and 
was  a  well-known  and  established  line  for  many  years,  and  that 
where  a  line  drawn  from  the  head  of  the  river  St.  Croix  inter- 
.«ected  the  south  line  of  the  old  Province  of  Quebec,  was  the 
iM»rth-west  angle  of  Nova  Scotia — the  angle  referred  to  in  the 
tit-aty.  It  was  all  irrelevant  or  unhnportant ;  Mars  Hill,  an 
isolated  pealv,  and  no  range  at  all,  severed  miles  west  of  a  direct 
north  line  from  the  source  of  the  St.  Croix,  and  in  no  way 
intersected  by  such  a  line,  was  the  true  angle.  True,  it  was  a 
solitary  peak ;  it  was  not  touched  by  the  north  line ;  it  divided 
no  rivers  running  into  the  St.  Lawrence  from  any  that  were 
emptied  into  the  ocean,  or  that  had  an  outlet  anywhere  else ! 
An  administration  that  should  at  the  present  day  receive  such 
a  pretension  as  this  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  deliberate  affront, 
would  be  regarded  as  unworthy  of  the  public  respect,  and  bo 


If 


THE  NOimi-KAHTEUN  llOUNDAUY. 


23 


speedily  disniksod  from  its  confidenco.  It  was  only  in  the  hour 
of  tiio  country's  oxlmiiHtion,  and  iilisolute  nuud  of  a  fleason  for 
recuperation,  that  tlu;  jfrovocation  for  plainness  (jf  Hi)eech  or  for 
action,  such  as  I  am  ^dad  to  say  was  in  our  own  State  not  un- 
worthily responded  to,  was  restrained  in  the  country  at  large 
by  what  were  n^^'arded  as  the  counsels  of  ])rudence. 

Down  to  1703,  when  by  treaty  with  the  French,  Canada  was 
acquired  by  Great  Britain,  both  New  England  and  Nova  Scotia 
extended  to  the  southerly  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Kiver. 
But,  at  this  time,  when  it  became  necessary  to  establish  the 
Province  of  Quebec,  the  King  extended  its  limits  so  as  to  include 
the  valley  of  that  river  on  the  south.  The  royal  proclamation 
of  October  7,  1763,  estaldished  the  southerly  boundary  of  the 
Province  of  Quel)ec  on  the  highlands  wliich  separated  the  rivers 
'running  to  the  north  or  north-east  into  the  St.  Lawrence  from 
those  running  to  the  south  and  south-east.  In  other  words,  the 
Treaty  of  Peace  of  1783  made  this  southerly  boundary  of 
Quebec  the  northerly  one  of  Massachusetts.  Parliament,  in 
1774,  confirmed  the  southerly  boundary  of  Quebec  as  described 
in  tlie  proclamation  of  the  King  in  the  previous  year. 

A  map,  on  which  these  highlands  were  laid  down,  had  been 
made  by  John  Mitchell,  a.t  the  request  of  the  Lords  Connnis- 
sioners  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  in  1755,  and  was  the  acknowl- 
edged, authoritative  map  of  the  time.  So  far  as  this  boundary 
line  is  concerned  it  was,  as  we  have  seen,  followed  and  adopted 
by  John  Mitchell  in  his  survey  and  plan  in  1764.  Whether  the 
John  Mitchell  who  made  the  survey  in  the  latter  year  was  the 
author  of  the  map  of  1755  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  the  easterly 
line  of  Massachusetts,  as  clamied  by  the  United  States,  was 
verified  and  authenticated  by  both  the  map  of  1755  and  the 
plan  of  1764.  The  former  was  produced  by  the  British  Com- 
missioners at  th^  negotiation  of  the  treaty,  and  was  adopted  and 


^ 


24 


THE  NORTH-EASTEEN  BOUNDARY. 


used  by  both  parties.  It  was  the  official  map,  and  a  part  of  the 
record. 

Eeferring  to  the  point  on  which  the  British  pretensions  were 
founded,  to  wit :  that  tlie  St.  Jolni  Eiver  does  not  fall  into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  but  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  therefore  the 
dividing  line  or  highlands  nuist  be  sought  south  of  this  river, 
I  am  induced  to  quote  a  few  paragraphs  from  a  report  made  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  July  4,  1838,  by  Mr.  Buchanan, 
afterwards  President  of  the  United  States : 

"Now,  what  are  the  objections  to  this  extraordinary  pretension, 
as  the  committee  are  constrained  to  call  it  ? 

"And,  first,  what  is  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  if  it  be  not  a  part  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  ?  A  bay  is  a  mere  opening  of  the  main  ocean  into 
the  land — a  mere  interruption  of  the  uniformity  of  the  seacoast  by 
an  indentation  of  water.  These  portions  of  the  ocean  have  received 
the  name  of  bays,  solely  to  distinguish  them  from  the  remainder  of 
the  vast  deep,  to  which  they  belong.  Would  it  not  be  the  merest 
special  pleading  to  contend  that  the  Bay  of  Naples  was  not  a  por- 
tion of  the  Mediterranean,  or  that  the  Bay  of  Biscay  was  not  a  part 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ? 

"Again :  the  description  of  the  treaty  is,  '  rivers  which  fall  into 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.'  Can  it  be  said,  with  any  propriety,  that  a 
river  does  not  fall  into  the  Atlantic,  because,  in  reaching  the  main 
ocean,  it  may  pass  through  a  bay  ?  And  yet  this  is  the  British 
argument.  The  Delaware  does  not  fall  into  the  Atlantic,  because 
it  flows  into  it  through  the  Bay  of  Delaware ;  and,  for  the  same 
reason,  the  St.  John  does  not  fall  into  the  Atlantic,  because  it  flows 
into  it  through  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The  committee  know  not  how 
to  give  a  serious  answer  to  such  an  argument.  The  bare  statement 
of  it  is  its  best  refutation. 

"  But,  like,  all  such  arguments,  it  proves  too  much.  If  it  be 
correct,  this  portion  of  the  treaty  of  1783  is  rendered  absurd  and 
suicidal ;  and  the  wise  and  distinguished  statesmen,  by  whom  it 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


26 


wa8  framed,  must  be  condemned  by  posterity,  for  affixing  their 
names  to  an  instrument,  in  this  particular,  at  least,  absolutely  void. 
Although  they  believed  they  would  prevent  '  all  disputes  which 
might  arise  in  future,  on  the  subject  of  the  boundaries  of  the 
United  States,'  by  fixing  their  commencement  at  '  the  north-west 
angle  of  Nova  Scotia,'  and  running  from  thence  along  '  the  high- 
lands which  divide  those  rivers  which  empty  themselves  into  the 
river  St.  Lawrence,  from  those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  ocean,' 
yet  it  is  absolutely  certain,  that  there  was  not  a  single  river  in  that 
whole  region  of  country  which,  according  to  the  British  construc- 
tion, did  fall  into  the  Atlantic  ocean.  They  all  fall  into  bays,  with- 
out one  exception.  Neither  can  we  plead  ignorance  as  an  excuse 
for  these  Commissioners  ;  because  it  is  fully  in  proof,  that  they  had 
Mitchell's  map  before  them,  from  which  the  fact  clearly  appears. 
The  Ristigouche  does  not  fall  into  the  Atlantic,  because  it  has  its 
mouth  in  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs ;  nor  does  the  Penobscot,  because  its 
mouth  is  in  the  Bay  of  Penobscot ;  nor  do  the  Kennebeck  and 
Androscoggin,  because,  after  their  junction,  they  fall  into  the  Bay 
of  Sagadahock.  The  same  is  true,  even  of  the  Connecticut,  be- 
cause it  empties  itself  into  Long  Island  Sound.  All  the  rivers  in 
that  region  are  in  the  same  condition  with  the  St.  John.  Thus  it 
appears,  if  the  British  argument  be  well  founded,  that  the  Com- 
missioners have  concluded  a  treaty,  and  described  highlands,  whence 
streams  proceed  falling  into  the  Atlantic,  as  a  portion  of  the  bound- 
ary of  the  United  States,  when  from  the  very  fao  of  the  map  be- 
fore them,  it  is  apparent  no  such  streams  exist. 

"  There  is  another  objection  to  the  British  claim,  which  is  con- 
clusive. Wherever  the  highlands  of  the  treaty  exist,  they  must  be 
highlands  from  which  on  the  north  side  streams  proceed  falling 
into  the  St.  Lawrence.  This  portion  of  the  description  is  as  es- 
sential as  that  from  their  south  side  streams  should  issue  falling 
into  the  Atlantic.  Now,  the  British  claim  abandons  tlra  former 
part  of  the  description  altogether.  Their  line  of  highlands  com- 
mencing at  Mars  Hill,  is  at  least  a  hundred  miles  south  of  the 


26 


THE  NORTH-EASTEEN  BOUNDARY. 


highlands  whence  the  tributaries  of  the  St.  Lawrence  flow.  Be- 
tween these  highlands  and  those  claimed  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment, the  broad  valley  of  the  St.  John  spreads  itself,  watered  by 
the  river  of  that  name,  and  the  streams  which  empty  into  it  from 
the  north  and  from  the  south.  The  two  points  on  the  western  line 
of  New  Brunswick  are  distant  from  each  other  more  than  a  hun- 
dred miles  ;  and  when  you  arrive  at  the  British  highlands,  you  find 
that  they  divide  the  sources  of  the  St.  John  and  the  Penobscot,  and 
not  the  sources  of  streams  falling  into  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  according  to  the  description  of  the  treaty. 

"But  how  is  it  possible  ever  to  embrace  Mars  Hill  in  the  line  of 
highlands  running  from  the  western  extremity  of  the  Bay  of 
Chaleurs,  and  forming  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Province  of 
Quebec  ?  It  is  clear  that  in  this,  and  in  this  alone,  the  north- 
western angle  of  Nova  Scotia  is  to  be  found.  Mars  Hill  is  one 
hundred  miles  directly  south  of  this  line.  You  cannot,  by  any 
possibility,  embrace  that  hill  in  this  range,  unless  you  can  prove 
that  a  hill  in  latitude  46^  is  part  of  a  ridge  directly  north  of  it  in 
latitude  48;  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  whole  valley  of  the  St. 
John,  from  its  southern  to  its  northern  extremity,  intervenes 
between  the  two.  The  thing  is  impossible.  Mars  Hill  can  never 
be  made,  by  any  human  ingenuity,  the  north-west  angle  of  Nova 
Scotia." 

Ill  closing  the  discussion  of  the  question  of  right,  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan's report  employs  this  very  emphatic  language : 

"  Upon  the  whole,  the  committee  do  not  entertain  a  doubt  of  the 
title  of  the  United  States  to  the  whole  of  the  disputed  territory. 
They  go  further,  and  state  that  if  the  general  Government  be  not 
both  able  and  willing  to  protect  the  territory  of  each  State  invio- 
late, then  it  will  have  proved  itself  incapable  of  performing  one  of 
its  first  and  highest  duties." 

The  following  resolution  was  passed  unanimously  by  both 
Houses  of  Congress: 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


27 


fi 


^'•Resolved,  That  .after  a  careful  examination  and  deliberate  con- 
sideration of  the  whole  controversy  between  the  United  States  and 
Groat  Britain,  relative  to  the  north-eastern  boundary  of  the  former, 
the  Senate  does  not  entertain  a  doubt  of  the  entire  practicability 
of  running  and  marking  that  boundary,  in  strict  conformity  with 
the  stipulations  of  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  of  seventeen 
hundred  and  eighty-three ;  and  it  entertains  a  perfect  conviction 
of  the  justice  and  validity  of  the  title  of  the  United  States  to  the 
full  extent  of  all  the  territory  in  dispute  between  the  two  parties." 

Having  thus  descril^ed  and  explained  the  several  and  con- 
flicting claims  of  Great  Britain  in  respect  to  this  territory,  I 
now  proceed  to  give  a  brief  history  of  negotiations  and  events 
connected  with  the  question  suljsequent  to  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
and  to  the  abandonment  of  the  Odell  and  Johnson  survey. 

For  twenty  years  after  this  treaty,  Great  Britam  received 
no  new  light,  and  made  no  new  arguments ;  but  with  these 
alone  she  commenced  making  aggressions — gradually,  quietly, 
moderately  at  first,  so  as  not  too  soon  to  arrest  the  atten- 
tion of  the  United  States — and  after  a  series  of  acts  of  occu- 
pation and  jurisdiction,  came  at  length  to  more  open  and 
positive  claims,  such  as  should  afford  a  pretext  for  proposing  a 
mutual  or  concurrent  jurisdiction  of  the  territory. 

Following  the  course  of  events  after  the  erection  of  Maine 
into  a  State,  we  find  in  the  year  in  which  that  event  happened, 
the  government  of  the  United  States  taking  the  census  of  Mada- 
waska,  on  both  sides  of  the  river  St.  John,  with  no  objection 
from  Great  Britain. 

Governor  King,  in  his  message  to  the  first  Legislature  of 
Mahie,  expresses  his  inability  to  inform  that  body  what  progress 
had  been  made  under  the  5  th  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  in 
settling  the  boundary,  but  he  complains  that  the  agent  ap- 
pointed on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  in  reference  to  this 


28 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


question,  had  not  been  selected  from  Maine  or  Massaclmsetts. 
The  Legislature  passed  a  Eesolve  requesting  the  federal  govern- 
ment to  cause  the  line  to  be  run  and  established. 

Governor  Parris,  in  his  annual  message  in  1822,  informs  the 
Legislature  that  he  learns  that  the  "  clauns  of  the  Britisli  Com- 
missioner cover  a  tract  of  country  heretofore  confessedly  be- 
longing to  this  State, ;  nd  over  which  it  has  exercised  jurisdic- 
tion," and  suggests  that  the  attention  of  our  Senators  and 
Eepresentatives  in  Congress  be  called  to  the  subject,  and  the 
more,  as  neither  the  Commissioner  or  agent,  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  belongs  to  this  State.  A  Eesolve  was  passed  by 
the  Legislature  January  16,  1822,  requesting  our  Senators  and 
Eepresentatives  in  Congress  "to  collect  all  the  information 
which  they  can  obtain,  relating  to  the  causes  which  have  pro- 
duced the  difference  of  ophiion  between  the  American  and 
British  Commissioners,  *  *  *  and  the  extent  and  nature 
of  the  claims  set  up  by  the  British  Commissioner,  and  transmit 
said  mformation  to  the  Executive  of  this  State." 

In  his  message  for  1823,  Governor  Parris  makes  no  reference 
to  this  subject. 

In  1824,  he  returns  to  the  question  in  these  words :  "  In 
consequence  of  the  disagreement  of  the  Commissioners  ap- 
pointed under  the  5th  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  a  proposi- 
tion has  been  made  by  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
and  accepted  by  the  British  Government,  to  endeavor  to  estab- 
lish this  boundary  by  amicable  negotiation,  rather  than  by  the 
decision  of  a  foreign  power,  as  provided  by  the  treaty.  This  ar- 
rangement is  believed  to  be  satisfactory  to  Maine,  and  we  have 
reason  to  feel  a  confidence  that  the  negotiation  will  be  so  con- 
ducted as  to  secure  to  this  State  its  just  rights." 

But  matters  do  not  look  quite  so  well  m  1825,  and  we  find 
Governor  Parris  a  little  mipatient  at  the  slow  progress  that  is 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY, 


29 


1)emg  made  towards  an  establishment  of  the  boundary  line. 
He  tells  the  Legislature,  in  his  message  to  that  body,  that  "  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  depredations  to  a  very  considerable 
extent  have  been  committed  on  our  timber  lands  lying  on  the 
Aroostook  and  Madawaska,  and  other  streams  emptyuig  into  the 
St.  John.  *  *  It  is  represented  that  these  depredations  are 
committed  by  British  subjects,  and  on  that  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  State  which  is  claimed  by  the  British  government  as 
belonging  to  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick.  This  pretended 
claim,  it  is  understood,  includes  about  one-third  of  our  territory, 
and  comprehends  a  great  portion  of  our  best  timber  land  and 
large  tracts  of  superior  quality  for  cultivation  and  settlement." 

A  committee  of  the  Legislature  reported  that  they  were  sat- 
isfied that  the  trespasses  referred  to  by  the  Governor,  were 
committed  under  permits  and  licenses  from  British  authorities, 
and  that  it^  behooved  the  States  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts 
"  to  adopt  the  most  efficient  measures  to  prevent  further  en- 
croachments upon  this  territory,  and  to  urge  upon  the  national 
government  the  necessity  and  importance  of  bringing  to  a 
speedy  and  favorable  termination  the  negotiation  on  this  inter- 
esting subject,  which  has  been  so  long  protracted." 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  February  of  this  year,  the  Legisla- 
ture passed  a  Eesolve  respecting  the  settlers  on  the  territory,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

"  Whereas,  There  are  a  number  of  settlers  on  the  undivided 
public  lands  on  the  St.  John  and  Madawaska  Rivers,  many  of 
whom  have  resided  therein  more  than  thirty  years ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  land  agent  of  this  State,  in  conjunction 
with  such  agent  as  may  be  appointed  for  that  purpose  on  the  part 
of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  and 
directed  to  make  and  execute  good  and  sufficient  deeds  conveying 
to  such  settlers  in  actual  possession,  as  aforesaid,  their  heirs  and 


II 


30 


THE  NOETIT-EASTEKN  BOUNDARY. 


assigns,  one  hundred  acres  each  of  the  land  by  them  possessed,  to 
inchide  their  improvements  on  their  respective  lots,  they  paying 
to  the  said  agent,  foe  the  use  of  the  State,  five  dollars  each  and  the 
expense  of  surveying  the  same." 

Authority  was  given  by  another  Eesolve  to  sell  timber  on 
territory  lying  on  or  near  the  river  St.  John. 

Massachusetts  passed  similar  Eesolves  to  the  above,  and 
during  the  year  deeds  were  executed  and  delivered  by  -James 
Irish  and  George  W.  Coffin,  land  agents,  to  John  Baker  and 
James  Bacon,  of  the  lands  occupied  by  them  on  the  north  side 
of  the  St.  John  River,  lying  on  the  Mariumpticook  Eiver,  west 
of  the  Madawaska  River,  and  ten  to  fifteen  miles  above  any  of 
the  French  settlements.  As  early  as  1817,  several  families 
from  Kennebec  County  had  settled  in  this  neighborhood, 
among  whom  was  Nathan  Baker.  Nathan  died  before  1825, 
and  his  widow  married  his  brother,  John  Baker,  who  occupied 
the  premises  that  had  been  taken  up  by  Nathan,  and  on  which 
not  only  a  dwelling  house,  but  a  saw  mill  and  grist  mill,  had 
been  erected.  There  were  several  other  American  settlers  in 
this  neighborhood. 

Governor  Parris  called  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  to  the 
subject  once  more,  in  his  annual  niessage  of  1826,  and  expresses 
increased  uneasiness  in  view  of  the  condition  of  aftairs,  and 
urges  that  measures  be  taken  to  procure  copies  of  maps,  reports 
and  other  papers  bearmg  upon  the  question.  In  the  Legisla- 
ture, a  committee,  of  which  Reuel  Williams  was  chairman, 
reported  a  Resolve,  which  was  passed,  requesting  the  Governor 
to  procure  copies  of  maps,  documents,  publications,  papers  and 
surveys  relating  to  the  boundary ;  and  also,  if  Massachusetts 
should  concur,  to  "  cause  the  eastern  and  northern  lines  of  the 
State  of  Maine  to  be  explored,  and  the  monuments  upon  those 


THE  NORTII-EASTEKN  BOUNDARY. 


31 


lines  TiKiiitioiuid  in  the  treaty  of  1783  to  be  ascertained  in  such 
manner  as  may  be  most  expedient." 

Anotlier  Ifesolve  passed  by  the  Legislature  this  year,  provided 
for  tlie  ()])ening  and  clearing  of  a  road  from  Penobscot  Eiver  to 
lloulton,  and  for  marking  a  road  from  the  mouth  of  the  Matta- 
wamkeag  to  the  mouth  of  Fish  Ptiver  in  the  river  St.  John. 

In  January,  1827,  Enoch  Lincohi,  whose  devotion  to  the 
intt;rests  and  honor  of  the  State  was  so  engrossing  and  complete 
as  to  make  his  name  a  synonym  for  both,  was  inaugurated  Gov- 
ernor. 

Il(3ferring  in  his  first  message  to  the  north-eastern  boundary 
question,  he  said — 

"  It  b(3comes  a  community  to  be  tenacious  of  its  territorial  pos- 
sessions, when  its  relative  political  importance  and  its  self-pro- 
tocting  powers  are  in  a  degree  involved  in  them.  But  as  we  have 
no  reason  to  believe  that  the  right  or  disposition  anywhere  exists 
to  cede  our  soil,  under  the  pretext  of  adjusting  a  limit,  which 
woidd  )>e  an  abuse  in  which  neither  the  people  nor  the  govern- 
ments of  the  Union  or  the  States  would  acquiesce,  we  may  safely 
anticipate  that  our  landmarks  will  be  held  sacred,  and  that  our 
inalienable  sovereignty  will  be  respected." 

Here  were  strong,  clear,  unmistakable  words.  The  right, 
which  there  were  some  grounds  to  fear  might  be  asserted,  was 
denied — the  right  to  cede  our  soil  "  under  the  pretext  of  adjust- 
ing a  limit."     Our  title  was  "  inalienable." 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  Legislature  of  the  last  year  called  on  the 
govennnent  of  the  United  States  for  copies  of  maps  and  documents. 
This  request  was  not  complied  with,  for  reasons  which  appear 
in  tlie  journal  of  President  John  Quincy  Adams,  under  date  of 
August  14,  1826.  Mr.  Adams  says:  "Mr.  Parris" — Governor 
Parris  of  Maine,  who  had  called  upon  the  President — "  spoke  of 
the  deep  interest  which  his  State  had  in  the  controversy ;  and 


\r 


82 


THE  NORTII-EAPTERN  BOUNDARY. 


although  he  felt  full  confidence  that  the  government  of  the 
United  States  would  consent  to  no  stipulation  injurious  to  the 
rights  of  the  State,  yet  he  said  they  were  not  without  appre- 
hensions that  New  York  might  be  willing  to  purchase  House's 
I'oint  at  the  expense  of  Maine  " — a  fear  that  was  proi)lietic,  for 
it  was  literally  realized  in  the  Ashburton  treaty  in  1842.  The 
journal  continues :  "  He  manifested  a  wish  to  be  furnished  with 
copies  of  the  arguments  of  the  agents,  and  reports  of  the  Com- 
missioners under  the  5th  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  which 
we  declined  giving  heretofore,  from  an  apprehension  that  a  pre- 
mature disclosure  of  them  might  operate  unfavorably  upon  the 
negotiation.  I  told  him  that  their  great  bulk  was  an  obstacle 
to  the  furnishing  of  copies,  but  that  they  had' been,  and  would 
still  be,  open  to  the  inspection  and  perusal  of  the  Eepresenta- 
tives  and  Senators  from  Maine,  and  would  be  equally  so  to  the 
Governor  oif  the  State,  if  present." 

Alluding  to  this  refusal  to  give  copies  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment. Governor  Lincoln,  in  his  message  for  1827,  said :  "  My 
immediate  predecessor  has  solicited  the  documents  contemplated 
by  a  Eesolve  of  a  former  Legislature  relative  to  our  boundary, 
and  I  cannot  but  hope  that  the  person  applied  to  will  find  the 
obligations  of  his  situation  so  modified  as  to  admit  his  furnish- 
ing the  proper  officers  of  this  State  information  by  which  it 
may  be  prepared  to  judge  correctly  of  the  rights  of  the  Union  and 
of  a  foreign  nation,  in  connection  with  that  independent  right 
which  it  ought  to  maintain,  so  far  as  the  prudent  application  of. 
all  its  justifiable  means  will  permit." 

So  much  of  this  message  as  related  to  the  boundary  was 
referred  to  a  joint  select  committee,  which  made  a  brief  report 
through  the  Hon.  John  G.  Deane,  a  gentleman  who,  with  the 
possible  exceptions  of  Governor  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Daveis,  under- 
stood this  question  better  than  any  man  living. 


THE  NORTII-EASTERM  BOUNDAKY. 


M 


"  The  State,"  said  the  committee,  "  neither  seeks  nor  claims 
more  than  her  own,  but  she  has  a  deep  interest  in  ])rcserving 
and  retaining  all  to  which  she  has  a  right ;  and  will  not  he 
wanting  in  any  proper  exertion  to  preserve  and  maintain  the 
integrity  of  her  territory."  Again,  "  We  can  anticipate  only 
one  class  of  events  which  would  invest  a  right  in  the  general 
government  to  give  up  any  such  territory ;  and  those  events  are 
such  only  which,  from  the  application  of  external  force,  would 
impair  the  national  compact  and  destroy  the  present  Union. 
In  any  other  case  we  deny  the  right  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States  to  yield  any  portion  of  our  territory  to  any  other 
independent  sovereignty,  unless  by  the  consent  of  the  State." 

A  liesolve  was  passed  requesting  the  Governor  to  take  all 
measures  he  should  deem  expedient  in  acquiring  information, 
and  procuring  a  speedy^adjustment  of  the  dispute  according  to 
the  treaty  of  1783. 

Full  of  the  subject  himself,  sensitive  to  the  honor  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, stung  by  the  indignity  done  her  by  the  seizure  and 
imprisonment  of  her  citizens  by  a  foreign  power,  impatient  of 
the  trilling  excuses  and  pretexts  by  which  her  rights  and  in- 
terests had  been  kerpt  in  abeyance  for  forty  years,  and  thus 
armed  and  instructed  by  the  Legislature,  the  Governor  went  to 
work  at  once,  in  the  most  earnest  and  vigorous  manner,  to  bring 
the  question  to  the  front  and  secure  its  prompt  and  just  settle- 
ment. 

On  the  twentieth  of  March,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  at  Washhigton,  transmitting  _  the  above  Eeport 
and  Resolve,  and  asking  for  copies  of  the  documents  which  had 
been  before  denied.  The  Secretary  (Mr.  Clay)  replied  on  the 
twenty-seventh  of  March,  and  assured  the  Governor  that  the 
President  felt  a  most  lively  solicitude  on  the  subject  that  Mr. 
Gallatin  was  charged  with,  and  had  entered  on  a  negotiation 

3 


84 


THE  NORTII-KASTEllN  BOUNDAIIY. 


concerning'  it ;  tliat  the  ijrosjject  was  tliat  tliere  would  be  no 
alternativf!  Imt  referring  the  dit'lerence  to  arbitration  according 
to  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  (ihent ;  that  co[)ies  of  maps, 
surveys,  or  documentary  evidence  woukl  be  furnished  wlien  ap- 
plied for,  but  that  copies  of  the  reports  and  arguments  of  the 
Commissioners  could  not  be  given  ;  that  the  Uritish  government 
had  abstained,  uiuler  a  promise  given  by  her  Minister  at  Wash- 
ington, from  any  NEW  exercise  of  sovereignty  over  the  disputed 
territory,  and  he  hoped  that  Maine  would,  durhig  the  pendency 
of  negotiations,  practice  a  like  forbearance. 

To  this  communication  Governor  Lincoln  replied  on  the  eight- 
eenth of  April,  1827,  and,  after  assuring  the  President  (in  answer 
to  some  unfounded  report  that  State  officials  had  been  proposing 
a  change  of  boundary)  "  that  Maine  will  never  jeopardize  the 
common  welfare  by  failing  to  insist  on  the  justice  and  inde- 
feasible character  of  its  claim,  or  by  shrinking  from  a  tirm 
assertion  of  it  in  any  alternative,"  he  continued,  that  it  was 
"  with  regret,  not  unmingled  with  mortitication,  that  he  con- 
sidered the  denial  U  the  use  of  the  reports  and  arguments  of 
the  Commissioners  under  the  treaty  of  Ghent.  *  *  *  IVIaine 
had  sought  information  only  as  an  interest  vital  to  herself,  as 
well  as  important  to  the  country,  without  any  purpose  calcu- 
lated to  excite  distrust,  with  only  such  patriotic  views  as  have 
rendered  the  refusal  to  comply  with  her  request  a  sul)ject  of 
that  species  of  surprise  which  a  friend,  predetermined  to  take 
no  ofi'ence,  feels  when  he  is  not  treated  with  correspondent  confi- 
dence." The  request  for  papers  is  renewed,  under  a  promise 
that  they  shall  be  used  only  before  the  Legislature,  and  under 
the  restrictions  of  confidential  communications.  The  Governor 
then  reminds  Mr.  Clay  that  it  is  a  proposition  which  has  been 
demonstrated  by  himself  "  so  clearly  as  to  have  commanded 
general  respect,  that  the  abstraction  of  the  territory  of  the 


THK  NOKTII-EASTKHN  BOUNDAKY. 


n.-) 


United  States  auiiiot  be  niade  by  the  treaty-nuikin|T  or  executive 
power."  Much  more,  then,  lie  snys,  must  the  domain  of  a  State 
be  sacred.  lieferrin«;  to  an  (ixpression  of  Mr.  (lallatin,  tliat  an 
umpire,  whether  kin<,'  or  farmer,  rarely  decides  on  strict  princi- 
ples of  law,  and  has  always  "a  bias  to  try,  if  possible,  to  split 
the  diflerence,"  he  protests  a^'ainst  any  arrangement  which  will 
endanj^-er  the  half  from  the  circumstance  of  a  wronj^ful  claim  to 
the  whole,  under  the  i)itiful  weakness  which  is  liable  to  split 
the  dil't'erence  between  ri-iht  and  wrou" 

Mr.  Clay  writes  the  (lovernor  on  the  seventhof  "May.fjivinf,'  lists 
of  the  papers  and  nuips,  copies  of  which  would  be  furni.sln  I; 
and  as  to  the  others,  he  says  they  may  be  inspected  by  the 
Governor,  or  any  agent  of  the  State,  confidentially. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  May,  Governor  Lincoln,  after  refening 
to  the  discouraging  character  of  his  previous  correspondence 
with  the  Secretary  of  State,  says,  "  that  having  learned  that  the 
title  of  the  State"  to  an  extensive  tract  of  country,  "  is  involved 
in  the  details  of  a  diplomatic  aiTangement  conducted  under  the 
sanction  of  the  executive  department  of  the  federal  government, 
Maine,  although  not  consulted,  yet  bound  from  deference  to  pay 
a  due  respect  to  reasons,  the  nature  and  force  of  which  she  is, 
from  a  studious  and  mysterious  reserve,  rendered  unal)le  to 
comprehend,  believes  that  she  ought  to  ])resent  her  expostula- 
tion ill  regard  to  any  measures  threatening  her  injury."  He 
understands  that  the  question  is  not  to  be  Imiited  in  the  submis- 
sion to  the  treaty  line  of  1783,  and  that  the  Sovereign  may  de- 
cide at  pleasure  on  the  whole  subject,  without  being  bound  by 
the  obligations  of  an  oath ;  and  that  the  Sovereign  is  one  whose 
feelings  will  be  prejudiced  against  a  Republic  accused  of  inor- 
dinate ambition.  And  he  adds  :  "  It  is  not  in  cold  blood  that  I 
can  anticipate  the  committing  the  destinies  of  Maine  to  an  irre- 
sponsible arbiter  to  be  found  in  a  distant  land,  and  necessarily 


!i 


86 


THE  NOUTII-KASTKUN  DOUNDAUY. 


un([iialifi('(l  to  act  in  tliu  caso.  *  *  SuHia;  it  to  say  that  tlio 
Iiroposod  arltitration  will  jcMtpanli/i!,  without  hur  consent  and 
u^'ainst  her  will,  the  rights  of  Maine.  And  allow  me  to  add," 
continued  the  Governor,  in  those  j^'rave  and  strong,'  words  which 
stirred  the  blooil  of  every  true  son  of  Maine  to  a  l)oilin<,'  heat, 
and,  reachinf^'  the  department  of  State,  l)rought  the  federal 
administration  to  a  halt  in  what  it  had  been  apprehended 
were  its  purposes,  "  that  if  called  upon  to  7nakc  the  required 
sacrijicc,  she  will  he  eoiniielled"  to  deliberate  on  an  alternative 
which  will  test  the  strictness  of  iicr  2>rinei2)les  and  the  firmness 
of  her  temjyer" 

He  reminds  the  President  that  when  Massachusetts  entered 
the  Union  "  she  yielded  no  right  to  dispose  of  her  soil,  or  to  ab- 
stract any  part  of  it  from  her  Jurisdiction,  *  *  nor  to  ex- 
pose, without  her  consent,  her  dearly  purchased  and  sacred 
riirhts  to  arbitrament."  He  warns  him  that  the  State  of  Maine 
"  will  not  observe  any  procedure  by  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  for  the  severance  of  her  territory  and  the  abrogation  of 
her  authority,  without  a  sensibility  too  serious  to  be  passive. 
She  holds  that  her  domain  is  not  the  subject  of  partition"  He 
puts  the  question  in  a  paragraph:  "No  statesman  will  assert" 
that  the  treaty-making  power  is  competent  to  an  iicc  trans- 
cending the  scope  of  the  combined  trusts  of  the  government." 

Eecurring,  as  he  could  not  help  doing,  to  the  effrontery  of  the 
British  claim,  with  which  our  government  permitted  itself  to 
be  trilled  with,  he  declares  that  "  It  may  be  confidently  asserted 
not  only  that  the  provision  of  the  treaty  of  1783  is  imperative, 
l)ut  that  it  d<^'  ribes  our  boundary  with  a  precision  which 
shames  the  British  claim,  and,  connected  with  the  making  of 
that  claim,  casts  a  shadow  over  the  lustre  of  the  British  charac- 
ter." He  closes  this  remarkable  letter  with  an  expression  of 
regret  that  the  government  slioulif  refuse  the  information  con- 


TIIK  NOUTH-F, ASTKHX  DOUNKAUY. 


37 


; 


teini»liitoil  ])y  a  resolution  of  tlu;  Statu,  l)iit  aiiy.s  ho  sliall  coii- 
tiiiuii  to  lio[)o  for  till!  pre.survatioii,  under  the  protectuij^  eiirc  of 
the  <^overnnient,  of  that  now  ex})o.s(Ml  territory,  destined  under 
any  i)ro[)ri(!tor  to  be  noon  oeenpied  hy  a  niunerous  popidntion, 
enga^'ed  in  all  the  purynits  which  yu.stain  hunuin  life  and  adorn 
human  nature." 

This  letter  is  acknowledj^'ed  by  ]\Ir.  Clay  on  the  ninth  of 
June,  and  the  Governor  is  assured  that  the  observations  made 
therein  shall  receive  due  attention  and  res^joctful  consideration, 
and  that  in  no  contingency  is  any  arbitration  contemplated  of 
the  dill'erence  between  the  two  countries,  but  tliat  for  which 
provision  has  been  sohannly  made  by  treaty — that  is,  the  ([ues- 
tion  to  be  submitted  shall  concern  alone  the  tnuity  Hue  of  1783. 

Sei)tember  third,  the  Governor  hiforms  the  Secretary  of  State, 
that  he  has  information  of  acts  of  encroachment  and  aii'^ression 
upon  our  territory  by  the  authorities  of  New  T'runswick;  tlint 
American  settlers  holding  lands,  under  titles  from  Maine  and 
Massachusetts,  are  denied  the  right  to  hold  real  estate,  are  taxed 
as  aliens,  and  are  refused  the  transmission  of  their  products  as 
American,  while  acts  of  jurisdiction  are  constantly  exercised 
by  these  authorities.  He  then  proceeds  to  show  the  value  of 
this  country  to  Maine  and  the  United  States,  and  the  import- 
ance of  excluding  British  control  and  jurisdiction.  IL'  rct'ors 
to  our  right  to  the  navigation  of  the  river  St.  John  by  the  law 
of  nations,  as  recognized  in  the  case  of  the  Mississippi  Eiver, 
and  to  the  wrong  that  will  be  done  if  this  right  is  allowed  to 
be  succc  '!y  c^^'*^  Lod.  He  again  informs  the  Department 
that  Maine  will  never  assent  to  the  result  of  an  arbitration  un- 
favorable to  her  interests  and  in  derogation  of  her  rights. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  September,  Mr.  Clay  informs  Governor 
Lincoln  that  he  has  advised  the  British  minister  that  it  is  ex- 
pected the  necessary  orders  will  be  given  on  the  part  of  the 


!! 


38 


THE  NOETII-EASTEIIN  BOUNDARY. 


British  government  to  enforce  forbearfince  from  new  acts  tending 
to  strengthen  its  claims.  It  will  be  remembered  that  an  under- 
standing had  been  come  to  between  these  parties,  that  there 
should  be  no  "  new  "  acts  of  this  khiu  Ijy  either  side. 

Notwithstanding  this  agreement  and  nrtice,  Governor  Lincoln 
had  occasion,  on  the  twenty-second  of  October,  to  write  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Brunswick,  that  he  has  informa- 
tion that  one  of  the  citizens  of  Maine,  by  the  name  of  John 
Baker,  while  residing  on  its  territory,  has  been  arrested  and  de- 
tamed  in  gaol  at  Fredericton,  in  that  Province,  and  asks  to  be 
advised  concerning  the  facts.  He  informs  the  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor that  the  attempt  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of  New 
Brunswick  over  this  territory  will  compel  counter  action  from 
Maine.  He  says :  "  The  arrest  of  our  citizens  on  what  we  believe 
to  be  a  part  of  our  State,  will  demand  its  utmost  energies  for 
resistance." 

The  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Brunswick,  on  the  fifteenth 
of  November,  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  the  aliove  letter,  but 
declines  to  give  any  information,  on  the  ground  that  he  is  not 
permitted  to  give  it  except  to  those  with  whom  he  is  directed 
to  correspond,  or  under  whose  orders  he  is  placed,  and  declines 
to  have  any  further  correspondence  with  the  Governor  of  ]\Iaine. 
The  scarcely  veiled  insolence  of  this  reply,  especially  when  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  the  correspondence  between  Gov- 
ernor Fairfield  and  Lieutenant-Governor  Harvey,  hereafter  re- 
ferred to,  is  painfully  apparent. 

The  Governor  of  Maine,  however,  came  into  possession  of  an 
official  vTit,  by  which  it  appeared  that  John  Baker  was  ordered 
to  appeal  and  answer  for  that  he  had  entered  and  intruded  upon 
the  lands  of  the  King  in  the  County  of  Kent,  in  the  Province 
of  New  Brunswick,  and  erected  and  built  thereon  a  house  and 
other  edifices,  and  cut  and  felled  and  carried  away  timber  and 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


39 


other  trees,  &c.  This  was  alleged  to  have  been  clone  on  land 
situated  on  the  northerly  side  of  the  St.  John  River,  and  between 
the  rivers  Madawaska  and  St.  Francis. 

On  the  fifth  of  November,  the  Governor  appointed  Charles 
Stuart  Daveis,  Esquire,  of  Portland,  agent,  with  authority  to  act 
in  behalf  of  the  State  of  Maine  in  obtaining  information,  either 
informally  or  by  authenticated  statements,  as  to  all  subjects 
relating  to  rights  of  property  and  jurisdiction  between  the 
government  of  the  State  and  that  of  New  Brunswick.  Mr. 
Daveis  took  with  hmi  a  letter  from  the  Governor  of  Maine  to 
the  Lieut.-Governor  of  New  Brunswick,  advising  the  latter 
of  Mr.  Daveis'  appointment,  and  its  object,  and  stating  that  he 
was  authorized  to  demand  the  release  of  Baker. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  November,  the  Governor  acknowledges 
the  receipt  of  the  documents  (so  long  withheld)  from  the  De- 
partment of  State,  but  expresses  his  regret  that,  from  the  con- 
tents of  the  Secretary's  letter  of  the  tenth  instant,  he  learns 
that  the  objections  he  has  offered  to  arbitration,  without  con- 
sulting this  State,  have  been  unavailing.  He  adds,  in  a  voice 
almost  choked  with  grief :  "At  last  we  learn  that  our  strength, 
security  and  wealth  are  to  be  subjected  to  the  mercy  of  a 
foreign  individual,  who,  it  has  been  said  by  your  minister, 
'rarely  decides  upon  strict  principles  of  law,  and.  has  always  a 
bias  to  try,  if  possible,  to  split  the  difference.'     I  cannot  but 

YIELD  to  the  impulse  OF  SAYING,  MOST  RESPECTFULLY,  THAT 

Maine  has  not  been  treated  as  she  has  endeavored  to 
deserve." 

He  then  informs  the  Secretary  of  the  facts  i";   the  case  of 

John  Baker. 

By  this  time,  the  excitement  in  the  State,  occasioned  l)y  the 
imprisonment  of  Baker  and  other  acts  by  the  Province  of  New 
Brunswick,  had  grown  to  such  a  heat,  that  Governor  Lincoln 


40 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  prevent  premature  collisions,  to 
issue  a  proclamation,  in  which  he  exhorted  forbearance  and 
peace  on  the  part  of  citizens  sufierhig  or  threatened  with  wrong, 
and  tliose  hiterested  by  sympathy  and  principle  on  account  of 
the  violation  of  our  territory,  "  so  that  the  preparations  for  pre- 
venting the  removal  of  our  landmarks,  and  guarding  the  sacred 
and  inestimable  rights  of  American  citizens  may  not  be  em- 
barrassed by  any  unauthorized  acts." 

Mr.  Clay  writes  Governor  Lincoln,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of 
November,  that  "  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  fully 
convinced  that  the  right  of  the  territory  in  dispute  is  with  us, 
and  not  with  Great  Britain.  The  convictions  of  Maine  are  not 
stronger  in  respect  to  the  validity  of  our  title  than  those  which 
are  entertained  by  the  President."  Bat  he  reminds  his  corre- 
spondent that  the  United  States  is  under  treaty  obligation  to 
refer  the  question,  and  cannot  refuse  to  carry  out  what  it  has 
pledged  itself  to  perform. 

Mr:  Daveis,  of  whose  appointment  notice  has  been  taken, 
visited  Houlton  and  Frcdericton  this  autumn.  At  the  former 
place  he  met  persons  who  had  come  from  above  Madawaska,  and 
were  enabled  to  report  to  him  the  condition  of  things  in  that 
section  so  fully  that  he  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  visit  it  in 
person.  He  gives,  in  a  report  made  to  the  Governor  Jan.  31, 
1828,  a  succinct  history  of  the  progress  of  the  settlements  on 
the  territory  in  dispute,  by  citizens  of  Maine  and  Massac!  lusetts ; 
of  trespasses  in  the  way  of  cutting  timber  by  hihabitants  of 
New  Brunswick  under  license  from  that  Province ;  of  seizures 
from,  and  impositions  upon,  American  citizens  by  Provhicial 
authorities,  liy  the  service  of  precepts  issued  by  magistrates  in 
New  Brunswick,  on  American  citizens  within  their  own  lines ; 
and  the  removal  of  property  from  this  State  by  virtue  of  levies 
on  executions  issued  by  Provincial  courts.     New  Brunswick 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


41 


officials  warned  off  American  citizens  from  lands  lying  within 
forty  miles  from  Houlton  and  west  of  the  boundary  line.  Amer- 
ican citizens  were  driven,  by  fear,  from  occupying  their  own 
houses  to  "  lodging  about  in  different  places,  in  barns,  or  in  the 
woods,  mustering  together  for  the  night  in  larger  or  smaller 
parties,  or  rseparating  for  greater  security."  Mr.  Daveis  gives 
some  account  of  the  settlement  of  the  Acadians  on  the  river  St. 
John  after  the  peace  of  1783,  whose  number,  by  the  American 
census  of  1820,  was  over  eleven  hundred.  The  first  settlement 
by  Americans  in  this  neighborhood  was,  he  reported,  in  1817, 
and  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Francis.  This  set- 
tlement was  made  by  several  families  from  the  County  of  Ken- 
nebec, in  this  State.  Among  them  were  those  of  Baker  and 
Bacon,  before  referred  to,  who,  in  the  year  1825,  received 
deeds  of  their  possessions  from  the  land  agents  of  Maine  and 
Massachusetts,  and  who  built  a  mill  under  the  authority  of 
these  States.  These  ^Vmerican  families  entered  into  a  compact 
between  themselves,  1  )y  which  they  agreed  to  submit  all  disputes 
and  differences  with  each  other  to  a  tribunal  of  their  own  ap- 
pointment. This  was  done  to  avoid  and  deny  all  British  juris- 
diction. It  was  to  last  only  one  year^  as  the  settlers  expected 
to  receive,  before  the  expiration  of  that  time,  from  their  State 
government,  the  protection  of  its  regular  and  constituted  authori- 
ties, for  which  they  had  petitioned.  That  this  "  home  rule  " 
might  be  properly  inaugurated,  the  Americans  assembled  at 
John  Baker's,  and  erected  a  staff  and  raised  a  rude  representa- 
tion of  the  American  eagle,  and  they  enjoyed  a  re})ast  in  the 
evenhig  at  his  house,  at  which  there  wore  nuisic  and  dancing. 
When  these  facts  came  to  the  knowledge  of  one  ^Morehouse,  a 
provincial  magistrate  who  had  on  many  occasions  given  annoy- 
ance, and  inflicted  injury  and  outrage  upon  citizens  of  tliis 
State  living  on  their  own  soil,  and  somethnes  on  grants  made 


42 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


by  Maine  and  Massachnsetts,  he  presented  himself  at  John 
Baker's  and  gave  order  for  the  removal  of  the  American  ensign, 
whicli  Baker — thenceforward  called  General  Baker — declined 
to  obey.  Morehouse  then  demanded  the  paper  of  agreement  or 
compact,  whicli  Baker  refused  to  deliver.  About  this  time  it 
so  happened  that  Baker  had  made  some  inquiry  of  a  French- 
man, who  was  carrying  a  mail,  in  respect  to  that  service,  which 
the  latter  misunderstood,  and  interpreted  as  indicating  a  purpose 
to  interfere  with  its  performance.  Thereupon,  Morehouse 
issued  a  warrant  against  Baker,  and  not  him  alone,  but  Bacon 
and  one  Charles  Stetson  also,  as  connected  with  him  in  such 
imputed  interference. 

Mr.  Daveis  continues  his  account  in  these  words : 

"Early  in  the  evening  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  September,  soon 
after  their  return  " — from  Portland,  where  Baker  and  Bacon  had 
been  to  report  the  state  of  affairs  on  the  St.  John,  and  to  solicit  aid 
from  the  State — "and  while  Baker  and  his  family  were  asleep,  the 
house  was  surrounded  by  an  armed  force,  and  entered  by  persons 
of  a  civil  character  and  others  armed  with  fusees,  &c.,  who  seized 
Baker  in  his  bed,  and  conveyed  him,  without  loss  of  time,  out  of 
the  State.  The  particulars  relating  to  this  circumstance  are  de- 
tailed in  the  statement  of  Asaliel  Baker,  a  nephew  of  John  Baker, 
who  was  first  awakened  by  the  entry.  *  *  The  person  conduct- 
ing the  execution  proved  to  be  of  high  official  character  and  per- 
sonal respectability  in  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick.  He  was 
informed  that  papcxS  were  in  the  possession  of  Baker,  justifying 
him  under  the  authority  of  the  States ;  but  he  replied  that  it  was 
not  in  his  power  to  attend  to  any  remonstrance.  No  resistance 
»vas  made  by  Baker,  and  no  opportunity  was  afforded  him  to  have 
intercourse  with  any  friends  and  neighbors,  from  whom  it  was 
reasonal>le  to  suppose  opposition  might  have  been  apprehended. 
Mr.  Baker  was  carried  before  Morehouse,  in  obedience  to  the  war- 
ran£;  it  does  not  ajDj^ear  that  any  examination   took  place,  how- 


thei 


THE  XORTH-EASTEKN  BOUNDAllY. 


43 


ever,  but  that  he  was  conveyed  to  Fredericton  and  there  coram ittod 
to  gaol.  The  letter  from  your  Excellency  to  the  American  inhab- 
itants at  the  upper  settlement,  was  delivered  by  him  to  the  author- 
ity under  wliich  he  was  imprisoned,  and  after  some  detention 
restored  to  him. 

"The  immediate  impression  produced  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  settlement  by  this  circumstance,  may  appear  from  tlie  further 
statement  of  Asahel  Baker.  He  was  tlie  person  employed  to  bring 
a  representation  from  them  of  the  arrest  of  John  Baker,  which 
was  deposited  by  him  in  the  first  post  office  he  reached  in  K<^n- 
nebec.  lie  was  absent  some  days,  and  on  his  return  found  that 
several  of  the  inhabitants  had  departed.  It  appears  that  in  the 
interim  the  alien  tax  had  been  again  demanded,  and  process  had 
been  served  upon  the  American  settlers,  generally,  similar  to  that 
which  had  been  previously  served  on  the  Aroostook,  indiscrimin- 
ately, to  appear  at  Fredericton  in  October,  to  answer  to  suits  for 
trespass  and  intrusion  on  Crown  lands,  under  the  penalty  of  one 
hundred  pounds.  It  is  understood  that  the  service  of  this  process 
was  extended  to  the  American  settlers  towards  the  St.  Francis  and 
upon  the  Fish  River,  where  the  road  laid  out  by  the  Legislatures 
of  the  two  States  terminates.  In  consequence  of  these  circum- 
stances, it  appears  that  three  of  the  American  settlers,  Charles 
Stetson,  Jacob  Goldthwait  and  Charles  Smart  have  parted  with 
their  possessions  and  removed  from  the  settlement  into  the  planta- 
tion of  Houlton,  where  they  are  at  present  seeking  subsistence. 
Stetson  was  a  blacksmith,  in  good  business,  and  was  concerned  in 
the  measure  relating  to  Morehouse.  The  motives  and  particulars 
of  their  departure  are  stated  by  them  in  their  respective  affidavits. 

"  In  the  precarious  state  of  their  affairs,  it  is  probable  that  no 
certain  estimate  can  be  formed  of  their  sacrifices ;  but  it  is  evident 
that  the  measures  made  use  of  towards  the  inliabitants  in  general, 
for  whatever  purpose,  have  had  the  effect  to  expel  a  portion  of 
them,  and  to  intimidate  the  remainder.  *  *  It  is  evident  that 
a  corresponding  application  of  judicial  proceedings  has  been  made 


44 


THE  NORTII-EASTEEN  BOUNDARY. 


from  tljG  Province  of  New  Brunswick  upon  all  the  settlomonts 
above  and  below  the  French  occupation  of  Madawaska,  tending  to 
their  extermination;  and  that  the  inhabitants  are  awaiting,  in  a 
state  of  fearful  anxiety,  the  final  execution,  from  which  they  see  no 
prospect  of  relief." 

These  proceedings  were  justified  and  adopted,  if  not  pre- 
viously authorized,  by  Sir  Howard  Douglass,  Lieut.-Governor  of 
New  Brunswick,  and  by  Mr.  Vaughan,  the  British  Minister  at 
Washington,  as  appears  by  a  letter  from  the  latter  to  Mr.  Clay, 
November  21,  1827. 

The  results  of  these  doings  were  summed  up  by  Mr.  Daveis 
as  follows : 

"  Citizens  of  Maine,  and  others  settled  r>n  lands  survej'ed  and 
granted  by  its  authority,  living  within  its  uicient  and  long-estab- 
lished limits,  are  subjected  to  the  operation  of  foreign  laws.  These 
are  applied  to  them  in  the  ordinary  course  of  civil  process,  in 
taking  away  their  property,  and  also  their  .persons.  American 
citizens  in  this  State  are  proceeded  against  as  aliens,  for  sedition 
and  other  offences,  and  misdemeanors  against  the  Crown  of  Great 
Britain;  and  one  of  them,  a  grantee  of  Massachusetts  and  Maine, 
seized  on  the  land  g:anted,  remains  in  prison  on  charges  of  that 
description." 

When  these  facts  became  known  to  the  people  and  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State,  there  was  a  deep  feeling  of  indignation  at 
the  wrong  and  outrage ;  and  the  only  wonder  to-day  is,  that  it 
could  have  been  restrained  to  peaceable  expressions  and  protests. 
To  us,  the  patience  with  which  these  encroachments  and  insults 
were  borne  is  simply  incredible. 

When  the  Legislature  assembled  in  January,  1828,  Governor 
Lhicoln  had  received  the  documents  and  papers,  which  he  had 
been  u) 'iMe  to  obtain  before.  He  announced  to  Chat  body  the 
foct  that  an  arbitration  had  been  entered  into  between  the  two 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


45 


governments,  and  he  called  its  attention  to  the  clnini  of  tempo- 
rary jurisdiction  by  New  3'runswick,  to  the  arrest  and  hnpris- 
onment  of  Baker,  and  the  report  of  Mr.  Daveis.  He  declared : 
"  Maine  cannot  abandon  its  obligations,  its  title  deeds  and  its 
rights.  It  cannot  allow  its  citizens  to  be  incarcerated  in  foreign 
gaols.  The  State  would  shrink  most  dreadfully  under  the 
shame  of  such  a  submission."  In  this  arbitration,  the  King  of 
the  Netherlands  was  made  the  umpire. 

The  Legislature  took  up  the  sul^ject  in  a  manner  that  showed 
that,  while  not  unmhidful  of  its  relations  and  duties  to  the 
federal  government,  nor  willing  unnecessarily  to  embarrass  it,  it 
had  a  painful  sense  of  the  wrong  and  injury  the  State  had  re- 
ceived. Hon.  John  G.  Deane,  on  behalf  of  a  joint  Select  Com- 
mittee, made  a  report  so  full,  so  accurate,  so  absolutely  conclu- 
sive of  eve:y  question,  as  to  leave  nothing  more  to  be  said  for 
the  vindication  of  our  claims  and  of  our  interpretation  of  the 
treaty  of  1783.  A  Resolve  was  passed,  demanding  defence  and 
protection  from  the  United  States ;  and,  in  case  of  new  aggres- 
sions, authorizing  the  Governor,  if  seasonable  protection  is  not 
afforded  by  the  general  government,  to  use  all  proper  and 
constitutional  means  to  protect  and  defend  our  citizens ;  and 
callin,^  for  a  demand  upon  the  British  government  for  the  release 
of  John  Baker ;  also,  providing  for  the  relief  of  his  family. 

Governor  Lincoln,  in  his  last  annual  message,  which  he  ad- 
dressed to  the  Legislature  in  January,  1829,  a  few  months 
before  his  lamented  death,  refe  s  to  the  vigorous  action  of  the 
preceding  Legislature,  from  which  he  thinks  some  practical 
results  may  have  come,  and  he  mentions,  among  these,  its  good 
effect  upon  the  nation.  The  President,  he  says,  has  yielded 
every  possible  support ;  a  garrison  has  been  established  upon 
our  frontier,  an  agent  from  among  ourselves  has  been  appointed, 
a  military  road  has  been  provided  for,  and  Baker's  case  has  been 


«iW 


46 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


assmiied  by  the  United  States;  and,  besides  this,  the  eharacter 
of  the  Kinj^'  of  the  Netherlands  is  sncli  as  to  give  ground  of 
hope  that  the  decision  will  be  a  just  one. 

The  Legislature  passed  an  act  "  to  prevent  foreigners  from 
exercising  acts  of  jurisdiction  within  this  State,  by  serving  civil 
or  criminal  process." 

In  1830,  Jonathan  G.  ITunton  was  Governor,  but  nothing  of 
special  interest  relating  to  this  question  seems  to  have  taken 
place  during  his  administration. 

In  1831,  Governor  Samuel  E.  Smith  refers  to  the  delay  that 
has  arisen  in  reaching  a  decision  by  tlie  umpire,  and  suggests 
that  it  may  have  occurred  from  the  disturbances  that  had  taken 
place  in  his  own  kingdom,  and  which,  by  depriving  him  "of  the 
greatest  portion  of  his  kingdom,  had  made  him  a  dependent  on 
Great  Britain.  He  doubted  whether  under  these  circumstances 
he  ought  tc  act,  or  could  properly  act,  as  umpire.  He  says: 
"  Whatever  confidence  may  be  put  in  the  justice  of  our  cause, 
however  clearly  our  right  may  be  shewn  in  argument,  we  cer- 
tainly could  not  be  willing  to  submit  it  to  the  umpirage  of  a 
sovereign  who  is  not  only  the  ally,  but  who,  by  the  force  of 
circumstances,  may  have  become,  in  some  measure,  the  depend- 
ent ally  of  Great  Britain." 

That  England,  after  this  event,  should  have  insisted  upon 

proceeding  with   the   arbitration,  was   scarcely   less  than  an 

'indecency  and  an  affront,  and  one  wonders  at  the  good  nature 

and  blindness  to  injury  wdiich   still  continued  to   mark  the 

temper  and  conduct  of  the  United  States. 

The  question  submitted  to  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  re- 
mained to  be  decided  by  the  King  of  Holland. 

But  the  Governor  takes  encouragement  after  this  protest, 
from  the  appointment  of  a  Mhiister,  by  whom  the  case  was  to 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


47 


})e  presented  to  the  umpire,  from  among  onr  own  citizens,  of 
one  so  ,.I)le  and  well-informed  us  the  lion.  William  Pitt  Treble. 

Albert  Gallatin,  an  experienced  diplomatist,  and  a  man  of 
historic  reputation,  and  Judge  Preble,  of  Portland,  had  been 
designated  during  the  administration  of  ]\Ir.  Adams,  to  manage 
the  case  before  the  umpire;  and  when  the  appointment  of 
Judge  Preble  as  Minister  was  made  by  President  Jackson,  the 
valuable  assistance  of  Mr.  Daveis  was  secured  to  him  by  the 
government. 

Governor  Smith  took  leave  of  this  subject  in  his  message  for 
1831,  by  saying  that  he  was  not  aware  that  anything  at  present 
remained  to  be  done  by  the  Legislature  that  could  facilitate  the 
incpiiry,  or  affect  the  result. 

On  the  tenth  of  January,  1831,  the  King  of  Holbnd  made 
his  report — award  it  could  not  be  called.  He  found  liimself 
unable  or  unwilling  to  decide  where  the  line  ought  to  be  run, 
but  said : 

"  We  are  of  opinion  that  it  will  be  suitable  {II  convlendra)  to 
adopt  as  the  boundary  of  the  two  States,  a  hue  drawn  due  north 
from  the  source  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  to  a  point  where  it  inter- 
sects the  middle  of  the  thalweg  (i.  e.  deepest  channel)  of  the  river 
St.  John,  ascending  it  to  the  point  where  the  river  St.  Francis 
empties  itself  into  the  river  St.  John,  tlience  the  middle  of  the 
thalweg  of  the  river  St.  Francis  to  the  source  of  its  uppermost 
branch,  wliich  source  we  indicate  on  the  map  A  by  the  X,  authen- 
ticated by  the  signature  of  our  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  thence 
a  line  drawn  due  west  to  a  point  where  it  unites  with  a  line  claimed 
by  the  United  States  of  America,  and  delineated  on  the  map  A, 
thence  said  line  to  the  point  at  which,  according  to  said  maps,  it 
coincides  with  that  claimed  by  Great  Britain,  thence  the  line  traced 
in  the  map  by  the  two  powers  to  the  north-westernmost  source  of 
the  Connecticut  River." 


48 


THE  NOIITII-EA.STEHN  BOUNDAUY. 


iM>i 


Tlio  Kiii^f  further  oxyn-esses  the  ci]»iiiion  that  it  would  he  siiit- 
nhhi  thiit  tlio  lini'  from  tho  Coiiiiccticut  ]iivur  to  tho  St.  Law- 
ronco  .should  1»g  ho  drawn  as  to  hicltido  in  the  United  States, 
the  fort  at  IJouse's  Point,  and  its  kilonietrical  radius. 

It  is  ahundaiitly  certain  from  the  whole  re))ort  and  proceec!- 
in<^'s  tli.'it  th(!  Kiiif,'  could  not  adopt  the  ]>ritish  claim,  and  did 
not  wish  to  accept  that  of  the  United  States,  and  so,  to  avoid  a 
decision,  contented  himself  hy  making  a  recommendation.  A 
hi.L,dH'i'  indirect  concession  to  the  American  claim  it  would  be 
dillicult  to  iiiia,L,nne. 

On  tlie  twidfth  of  January,  our  Minister,  Judge  Preble,  made 
a  protest  against  the  proceeding,  "as  constituthig  a  departure 
from  tlie  ])ower  delegated  by  the  liigh  parties  hiterested." 

UuoHicial  intelligence  of  the  report  of  the  King  of  Holland 
was  received  in  Maine  during  the  session  of  the  Legislature,  and 
occasioned  nnicli  uneasiness.  A  joint-select  connnittee  made  a 
vigorous  report,  in  which  were  no  sounds  of  uncertainty  or  fear, 
through  Col.  I  )eane.     It  said  : 

"  If  the  Government  of  the  United  States  can  cede  a  portion  of 
an  indopoiulont  State  to  a  foreign  government,  she  can,  by'the  same 
principle,  code  the  whole  ;  or  if  to  a  foreign  government,  she  can, 
by  tho  same  principle,  annex  one  State  to  another  until  the  whole 
are  consolidated,  and  she  becomes  the  sole  Sovereign  and  lawgiver, 
without  any  check  to  her  exercise  of  power." 

It  is  not  to  bo  answered  that  the  treaty-making  power  has, 
from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  anqde  authority  to  decide  dis- 
[)utes  between  the  nation  and  other  nations,  whether  they  refer 
to  lioundaries  or  anything  else.  This  nation  has  no  right  under 
the  treaty-making  power  to  cede  the  territory  of  any  State — the 
title  to  which  in  the  State,  it  affirms.  In  this  case,  the  United 
States,  by  Congress  as  well  as  by  the  Executive  Department,  as 
had  also  the  Legislatures  of  Elaine  and  Massachusetts  and  of 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  DOUNDARY. 


49 


most  the  other  States,  declared  re|)eatedly  and  in  the  most  em- 
phatic and  unequivocal  terms,  that  the  rii^'ht  of  Maine  was  "  clear 
and  un(|uestionahle."  Her  title  was  as  clear  to  Madawaska  as 
to  Portland,  and  a  cession  or  sale  of  the  latter  would  l)e  ([uite  as 
ol)jectional)le  and  unconstitutional  as  a  transfer  of  the  former. 

This  committee  reported  Kesolves,  which  were  passed,  de- 
claring "  That  the  convention  of  1827  tended  to  violate  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  to  impair  the  sovereign 
rights  and  powers  of  the  State  of  Maine,  and  that  Maine  is  not 
bound  by  the  Constitution  to  submit  to  the  decision  which  has 
been,  or  shall  be,  made  under  that  convention."  Also,  that 
whereas  the  submission  was  to  the  King  of  the  Netherlands,  an 
independent  Sovereign,  exercising  dominion  over  six  millions  of 
people,  and  whereas,  by  the  force  of  liberal  opinions  in  Belgium, 
he  was  deprived  of  more  than  half  of  his  dominions,  and  his 
dependence  on  Great  Britain  for  holding  his  power,  even  in 
Holland,  was  increased,  and,  inasmuch  as  he  had  made  no  deci- 
sion before  his  kingdom  was  dismembered  by  his  own  consent, 
and  his  public  character  changed,  it  was  resolved  that  the 
award  "  cannot  and  ought  not  to  be  considered  obligatory  upon 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  either  on  the  principles  of 
right  and  justice,  o:  of  honor."  And  further,  "  that  no  decision 
made  by  an  umpire  under  any  circumstances,  if  the  decision 
dismembers  a  State,  has  or  can  have  any  constitutional  force  or 
obligation  upon  the  State  thus  dismembered,  unless  the  State 
adopt  and  sanction  the  decision." 

On  the  eighteenth  of  March,  Mr.  Van  Iluren,  Secretary  of 
State,  communicated  the  report  of  the  King  of  Holland  to  the 
Governor  of  Maine,  with  a  request,  in  substance,  that  pending 
its  consideration  at  Washington,  Maine  should  kee])  quiet  and 
behavi,'  herself. 

Governor  Smith  transmitted  the  papers  to  the  Legislature  on 


90 


THE  NOKTII-EASTERN  BOUNDAKY. 


the  tweiity-fifth  of  March,  with  a  messaf,'e  which  ciulorRcd  and 
coininciKled  the  advice  of  Mr.  Van  IJureii  as  to  good  heliavior 
on  the  ])art  of  the  i)e()ple  of  Maine  and  their  representatives. 
But  the  Le^ishiture  was  scarcely  in  a  temper  to  appreciate  this 
advice  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  given.  It  had  yet  some 
sense  of  honor,  duty  and  self  respect ;  and  on  the  thirtieth 
of  March  it  made  its  answer  to  the  I'resident,  in  which  it 
plainly  told  him  that  "  there  are  rights  which  a  free  people 
cannot  yield,  and  there  are  encroachments  upon  such  rights 
which  ought  to  be  resisted  and  prevented,  or  the  people 
ha^e  no  assurance  of  the  continuance  of  their  liberties."  The 
report  took  up  the  opinion  of  the  King,  and  the  question 
of  liis  right  to  act  after  he  had  ceased  to  be  Sovereign  of  the 
Netherlands,  and  l)y  facts  uicontestible  and  by  invincil)le  logic, 
showed  that  the  opinion  was  in  no  sense  binding  either  upon 
the  United  States  or  the  State  of  Maine,  and  declared  that  "  if 
the  United  States  should  adopt  the  document  as  a  decision,  it 
will  be  in  violation  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  State  of 
Mahie,  which  she  cannot  yield." 

A  copy  of  this  report  of  the  Legislature  was  ordered  to  be 
sent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  to  the  Governors 
of  the  several  States. 

Governor  Smith,  it  will  be  remembered,  had,  in  his  annual 
message  a  few  weeks  before,  referred  to  the  change  which  had 
taken  place  in  the  relations  of  the  umpire  since  the  submission 
was  made,  and  expressed  the  unwillingness  the  Statfe  would 
feel  to  submit  the  question  to  the  decision  of  a  sovereign  who 
was  the  ally,  and  might  become  the  dependent  ally,  of  the  con- 
testing party.  The  legislative  report  had  but  echoed  this 
opinion.  Acting  in  its  spirit,  and  in  view  of  the  whole  situation, 
and  in  full  harmony,  as  was  supposed,  with  the  views  of  the 
Governor  (for  as  yet  he  had  not  heard  from  Mr.  Van  Buren), 


THE  NOUTII-EASTERN  BOUNPAUY. 


ol 


Tsed  and 

behavior 
entativea. 
sciato  tills 
yet  some 

thirtieth 

which  it 
ree  people 
ich  rights 
lie   people 
ies."    The 
B  question 
Lgu  of  the 
cihle  logic, 
either  upon 
3d  that  "  if 
decision,  it 
e  State  of 

lered  to  be 
Governors 

his  annual 

which  had 

submission 

[tatfe  would 

fereign  who 

of  the  con- 

jchoed  this 

lie  situation, 

tews  of  the 

'an  Buren), 


the  Legislature,  on  tlie  fifteenth  of  March,  1831,  passed  an  Act, 
wliicli  received  the  a])})r()val  of  the  (jrovernor,  to  incorporate  the 
town  of  Madawaskji,  by  which  the  inhabitants  thereof  were 
declared  to  be  "subject  to  tlie  same  duties  and  liabilities,  and 
vested  with  the  privileges  and  immunities  which  other  inc<)r]Mi- 
rated  towns  are  within  this  State."     Any  Justice  of  Peace  within 
the  County  of  Tenoljscot,  or  any  Justice  throughout  the  State, 
was  empowered  to  issue  his  warrant  to  any  inhabitant  of  the 
place,  directing  him  to  notify  a  meeting  for  the  choice  of  otiicers. 
In  conformity  to  this  Act,  a  warrant  was  issued  by  WiUiam  1). 
Williamson,  Esquire,  a  Justice  of  the   Peace  throughout  tlie 
State,  directed  to  Walter  Towers,  an  inhabitant  of  Madawaska, 
to  notify  the  inhabitants  of  that  town  to  meet  at  the  house  ot 
Peter  Lezart  to  organize  the  town  and  elect  town  officers.     The. 
meeting  was  duly  called  and  held  in    aigust,  but  its  proceedings 
were  interrupted  and  delayed  by  interference  and  threats  on  the 
part  of  Leonard  B.  Coombs,  a  Captain  of  Militia,  and  Francis 
Eice,  a  Justice  of  the  I'eace,  holding  commissions  from  the  Prov- 
ince of  New  Brunswick.    But  the  inhabitants  present,  about  fifty 
in  number,  persevered  in  their  work  and  elected  town  officers. 
Another  town  meeting,  at  which  eighty  inhabitants  were  pres- 
ent, was  held  on  the  second  Monday  of  September,  1831,  being 
the  day  of  the  State  election,  at  the  house  of  Eaphael  Martin, 
when  Peter  Lezart  was  elected  a  representative  to  the  State 
Legislature.     Eice  was  present  at  this  meeting,  also,  interrupt- 
ing it,  and  using  language  of  menace  and  abuse.     He  took 
the  names  of   the   persons  voting  at  the  meeting.     On  the 
twenty-fifth  of  the  month,  a  military  force  was  collected  at  the 
chapel  in  Madawaska,  by  Provincial  authority,  and  repaired  to 
the  house  of  one  Simon  HeV^bert,  further  up  the  river,  where 
they  were  attended  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Bruns- 
wick.    This  force  succeeded  in  arresting  Daniel  Savage,  Jesse 


52 


THE  NORTH-EASTEEN  BOUNDARY. 


Wheelock,  Barnabas  Hunnewell,  Daniel  Bean  and  several  others, 
and  held  them  prisoners  for  the  offence  of  acting  at  the  town 
meeting.  John  Baker  escaped  to  the  woods,  and  finally  came  to 
Portland,  where,  on  the  twelfth  of  October,  he  gave  to  the  Gov- 
ernor a  detailed  statement  '•"  the  facts,  to  which  he  made  oath 
before  Francis  0.  J.  Smith,  Esquire,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
Wheelock  and  Savage,  who  were  arrested  as  above  stated,  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  Eoscoe  G.  Greene,  Secretary  of  State,  in  which 
they  informed  him  of  the  circumstances  of  their  arrest.  They 
said: 

"  His  Excellency,  Sir  A^-^ihibald  Campbell.  Lieutonant-Governor 
and  Coramander-iu-Cb'ef  of  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  ar- 
rived here  on  the  twenty-third  instant,  with  one  Colonel,  one  Cap- 
tain of  the  Militia,  the  Attorney-General  of  the  Province  and  Mr. 
McLaughlan ;  also,  by  the  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  York.  On  the 
twenty-fourth  they  directed  warrants  to  be  issued  against  all  those 
who  had  acted  at  said  meetir^^cr  j.  *  *  "\Ye  were  arrested  on  the 
twenty-fifth.  *  *  On  ^he  twenty-sixth  the  Sheriff  and  Captain 
Coombs  and  some  militia  a.-'cendod  the  river  to  Mr.  Baker's  to 
arrest  those  in  that  neighborhood ;  theriue  to  St.  Erancis  RivAr, 
expecting  to  return  to-day,  when  wo  are  to  be  immediately  sent  to 
Eredericton  gaol.  When  the  rest  of  our  unfortunate  countrymen 
arrive  we  will  enlist  their  names  and  numbers,  together  with  what 
other  information  shall  come  to  our  knowledge.  The  families  of 
them  will  be  left  in  a  deplorable  situation  unless  their  country  will 
immediately  release  them.  *  *  We  are  now  descending  the 
river,  twenty  miles  above  Woodstock." 

Of  these  persons.  Savage,  Wlieelock  and  Hunnewell  were 
arraigned  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Brunswick,  and 
sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  pounds  and  be  imprisoned  three 
months,  and  were  accordingly  thrown  into  prison  at  Eredericton. 

Down  to  the  period  covered  by  these  proceeduigs,  with  the 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


53 


single  exception,  if  such  it  may  be  regarded,  of  the  Governor's 
message  in  March,  I  find  no  blot  on  the  history  of  this  State, 
nothing  to  be  ashamed  of,  nothing  to  hide  the  head  for,  but 
a  constant  exhibition  of  elevated  and  dignified  patriotism — a 
proper  regard  for  the  integrity  and  honor  of  the  Commonwealth. 

But  after  this,  succeeds  a  term  which  we  might  well  desire 
to  have  expunged  from  our  annals. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  had  rejected  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  King  of  Holland,  and  new  negotiations  were 
m  contemplation  at  Washington,  when  the  intelligence  was 
received  there  from  the  Governor  of  Maine  of  the  proceedings 
at  Madawaska,  and  the  arrest  of  Wheelock  and  others.  The 
administration  was  greatly  disturbed,  and  communicated  its 
displeasure  to  Governor  Smith.  He,  on  the  twelfth  of  October, 
replied  that: 

"An  Act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  this  State  at  the  last 
session  to  incorporate  the  town  of  Madawaska,  which  is  bounded, 
in  part,  by  the  line  of  the  State.  By  this  Act  and  some  others,  I 
understood  it  was  intended  by  the  Legislature  to  assert  the  claim 
of  the  State  to  jurisdiction  over  that  portion  of  the  territory  which 
they  knew  to  be  within  the  limits  of  Maine;  and  that  it  was  not 
to  be  carried  into  effect  until  circumstances  should  render  it  proper 
and  expedient.  This  measure  is  said  to  have  been  adopted  by  the 
inhabitants  of  that  territory,  voluntarily  organizing  themselves 
into  a  corporation ;  was  unexpected  by  me,  and  done  without  my 
knowledge." 

Wliat  a  spectacle  is  here !  Tlie  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States  had  written  the  Governor  of  Maine  a  sharp  letter, 
reproving  the  State,  in  effect,  for  its  independent  and  proper 
action.  And  the  Chief  Magistrate,  who  but  a  few  months 
before  had  been  so  earnest,  who  had  approved  an  act  to  incor- 


54 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


porate  the  town,  when  the  people  thereof,  in  good  faith,  sup- 
posing the  act  of  the  Legislature  meant  what  it  said — as  indeed 
it  did,  as  everybody  conversant  with  its  history  well  knew — 
went  to  work,  and  in  conformity  to  its  provisions  organized 
the  town — instead  of  planting  himself  firmly  upon  the  act  of 
the  Legislature  and  the  douigs  of  his  people,  starts  back,  like 
Fear  in  Collins'  Ode, 

"  E'en  at  the  sound  himself  had  made." 

To  this  excuse  and  protestation.  Secretary  Livingston  made  re- 
ply in  a  letter  of  such  tone  and  language  as  no  Governor  of  a  State 
should  permit  to  be  addressed  to  him,  without  indignant  remon- 
strance, to  say  the  least.  He  told  him  that  the  President  could 
not  "  consider  the  continuance  of  the  occupation "  (of  Maine) 
"  h/j  the  ojicers,  civil  and  military,  of  the  British  Province  as  an 
invasion ;  but  will  take  all  proper  measures  to  procure  the  re- 
lease of  the  ill-advised  persons  who  have  been  the  cause  of  this 
disturbance." 

Ill-advised  persons  !  Wlio  gave  them  the  ill  advice  ?  The 
Legislature  of  Maine  and  the  Governor  of  Maine !  These  and 
no  others,  and  in  the  most  unequivocal  and  solemn  manner. 
Of  the  important  facts  the  Secretary  had  learned  enough  to  ren- 
der his  language  as  (direct  and  pointed  a  rebuke  to  the  Legisla- 
ture and  Executive  authorities  of  the  State,  as  it  was  possible  to 
make.  How,  may  it  be  imagined,  would  Enoch  Lincoln  have 
received  words  like  these — words  that  should 

"  Kindle  cowards,  and  steel  with  valor 
The  melting  spirits  of  women  "  ? 

But  whatever  the  amount  of  reproof  and  insolence  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  was  pleased  to  visit  upon  the  Governor  of  Maine, 
he  made  ample  amends  for  it  in  his  disgraceful  obsequiousness 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


55 


to  the  British  minister.  To  show  the  humiliation  with  which 
the  government  was  pleased  to  clothe  itself,  and,  with  the  con- 
sent of  her  Executive,  the  State  of  Maine,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  quote  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Livingston  to  Mr.  Bankhead,  the 
British  Minister,  on  the  fifteenth  of  October,  1831.  Transmit- 
ting extracts  from  Governor  Smith's  letter,  before  referred  to, 
he  says : 

"  You  will  perceive  that  the  election  of  town  officers  in  the  settle- 
ment of  Madawaska,  of  which  complaint  was  made  in  the  papers 
enclosed  in  your  letter,  was  made  under  color  of  a  general  law, 
which  was  not  intended,  by  either  the  executive  or  legislative  au- 
thority, to  be  executed  in  that  settlement,  and  that  the  whole  was 
the  work  of  inconsiderate  individuals" 

One  can  hardly  conceive  a  statement  more  crowded  with 
errors  of  fact  than  this.  In  the  first  place,  as  we  have  seen, 
there  was  a  gross  error  in  the  assertion  that  the  incorporation 
of  the  town  of  Madawaska  was  under  a  general  law,  and  not  by 
a  special  act ;  and  that  the  action  of  the  inhabitants  was  not 
contemplated  by  the  State,  was  an  error  equally  manifest. 

If  the  Legislature  of  Maine,  with  the  approval  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, set  it  olf  to  the  work  of  passing  a  special  act  of  incorpo- 
ration, was  it  in  accordance  with  a  proper  respect  for  the  honor 
of  the  State,  to  assert  that  it  was  not  intended  that  the  power 
should  be  exercised ;  that  it  was  simply  a  paper  defiance  from  a 
a  safe  distance — a  mere  hrutum  fulmcn  ?  That  while  Judge 
Williamson,  the  historian  of  Maine,  was  issuing  his  warrant  to 
Mr.  Powers  for  the  organization  of  the, town,  and  the  purpose 
was  being  executed  in  the  knowledge  of  the  whole  State,  and 
all  the  public  journals  ./ere  seriously  discussing  it,  the  State 
itself  was,  after  all,  only  playing  the  lion's  part,  after  the  man- 
ner of  Nick  Bottom,  the  weaver  ? 


66 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


Instead  of  demanding,  in  a  firm  and  becoming  tone,  the  im- 
mediate release  of  the  citizens  of  Maine,  who  had  been  impris- 
oned in  a  foreign  gaol  for  the  offence  of  acting  in  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  their  State,  the  Secretary  says  to  Mr.  Bankhead : 
"/  respectfully  suygest  the  propriety  of  your  commending  to  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Brunswick  the  release  of  the 
prisoners." 

Having,  by  these  apologies  and  humble  petitions  from  the 
American  Secretary,  obtained  what  he  assumed  to  regard  as  a 
practical  recognition  of  the  provincial  claim  of  exclusive  juris- 
diction, the  British  government  graciously  consented  to  the 
release.  This  is  not  pleasant  reading.  It  makes  one  neither 
happy  nor  proud.  Tiie  State  made  no  protest — uttered  no  word 
of  grave  remonstraace. 

Upon  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature  of  1832,  the  Governor 
recited  at  some  length,  in  his  message,  the  transactions  of  the 
preceding  autumn,  and  informed  that  body  that,  through  the 
intervention  of  the  President,  Wheelock  and  the  other  prisoners 
had  been  released. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  February,  the  Governor  made  a 
communication  to  the  Legislature,  in  secret  session,  in  which  he 
said  he  had  been  informed  by  Judge  Preble,  the  agent  of  the 
State  at  Washington,  that  the  award  of  the  King  would  event- 
ually be  adopted  by  our  'government ;  that  Maine  would  re- 
ceive pecuniary  indemnity  if  she  would  cede  her  territory 
lyuig  outside  of  the  line  of  the  award.  He  urged  promptness 
of  action  on  the  part  of  the  Legislature. 

The  President  was  anxious  that  some  arrangement  should  be 
made  by  which  Maine  would  consent  to  abide  by  the  line  of 
the  King ;  and  the  Congressional  delegation  from  the  State,  with 
the  exception  of  Mr.  Evans  (who  opposed  the  proposition  in  a 
letter  marked  by  the  incisiveness  and  vigor  which  charac- 


THE  NORTH-EASTEllN  BOUNDARY. 


67 


terized  alike  the  forensic  and  political  efforts  of  this  very 
great  man),  wrote  Judge  Preble  in  favor  of  submitting  the  plan 
to  the  Legislature. 

The  question  was  discussed  by  the  Legislature,  with  closed 
doors,  and  finally  a  resolution  was  passed  authorizing  the  Gov- 
ernor' to  appoint  three  Commissioners  to  see  what  terms  and 
conditions  could  be  arranged,  and  report  to  the  Legislature  for 
its  action.  The  commission  was  constituted  by  t'le  appointment 
of  three  eminent  and  able  gentlemen — William  Pitt  Preble, 
Eeuel  Williams  and  Nicholas  Emery.  The  President  appomted 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  as  Commissioners  to  confer 
with  those  from  Maine,  the  Secretary  of  State,  Edward  Living- 
ston ;  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Louis  McLane ;  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  Levi  Woodbury.  When  our  Commission- 
ers reached  Washmgton,  they  found  there  a  public  opinion  that 
demanded  urgently  and  almost  imperatively,  a  settlement  of 
the  vexed  and  long-disturbing  question.  The  commerce  and 
business  of  the  country, — all  its  industrial,  commercial  and 
financial  interests,  in  fact, — called  for  a  removal  of  the  causes 
of  apprehension  that  the  peace  of  the  country  might  be  rup- 
tured ;  and  New  York,  as  Governor  Parris  had  predicted  years 
before  she  would  make  known,  wanted  Eouse's  Point.  The 
whole  power  of  the  administration,  a  nearly  united  South,  and 
the  commercial  interests  of  the  North,  were  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  Commissioners.  They  were  warned  that,  if  they  did 
not  consent  to  the  new  line,  the  question  would  be  submitted 
to  another  arbitration.  Thus  pressed,  they  finally  consented  to 
submit  certain  propositions  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State. 
Perhaps  they  could  have  done  no  less  under  all  the  circum- 
stances. It  was  not  for  them  they  considered,  as  T  imagine,  to 
debar  the  State  of  an  opportunity  for  considering,  through  its 
Legislature,  the  propositions  which  the  Coinmissioners  of   the 


58 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


United  States  were  prepared  to  make.  These  were  in  sulDStance 
a  new  line,  which,  if  not  entirely  coincident  with,  was  yet  on 
the  basis  of  the  King  of  Holland's  recommendation,  and  one 
million  of  acres  of  land  in  Michigan,  which,  at  the  minimum 
government  price,  was  worth  $1,250,000,  and  probably  much 
more  than  tliis  sum  in  fact.  If  a  conventional  line,  not  involv- 
ing an  exchange  of  territory,  were  admissible  at  all,  these  terms 
should  not  probably  be  regarded  as  unreasonable  in  amount, 
however  humiliating  in  respect  to  the  source  from  which  they 
proceeded. 

But  Maine  had  never  ceased  to  feel  an  invincible  repugnance 
to  the  idea  of  selling  her  territory  for  cash,  or  cash  equivalents, 
still  less  of  abandoning  her  citizens,  exchanging  them  as  well 
as  her  soil  for  counters.  And  so  when  it  was  known,  in  the 
winter  of  1832,  that  the  Legislature  had  resolved  itself  into 
secret  session  to  consider  propositions  for  a  settlement  of  the 
question  by  a  conventional  line,  the  fears  of  the  people  were 
aroused  and  an  intense  excitement  was  created.  Eeports,  more 
or  less  correct,  of  the  doings  in  secret  session  were  circulated 
among  the  people  and  appeared  in  the  newspapers.  Startluig 
headings  arrested  the  eyes  of  the  people.  "  Maine  Sold  Out  ! " 
"  Maine  in  the  Market  ! "  "  Our  Fellow  Citizens  Trans- 
ferred TO  A  Foreign  Power  for  Cash  or  Land  ! ! " 

An  anonymous  letter,  evidently  written  by  a  member  or 
officer  of  the  Legislature,  indicating  the  passage  of  a  Resolve 
(such  as  was  in  fact  passed  on  the  third  of  March),  was 
printed  in  the  Kennebec  Journal,  which,  in  connection  with 
the  events  growing  out  of  its  publication,  inflamed  still  more 
the  public  feeling.  The  name  of  the  author  was  demanded  of 
the  editor,  Hon.  Luther  Severance,  who,  upon  his  refusal  to 
divulge  it,  was  committed  to  the  Augusta  gaol  for  contempt, 
from  which,  however,  he  was  soon  released. 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


)9 


In  this  excited  condition  of  tlie  popular  mind,  the  Legislature 
adjourned,  and  its  memliers  returned  to  their  homes  to  meet 
there  alarmed  and  indignant  constituencies.  A  speech  from 
Jacob  Ludden,  a  Democratic  representative  from  Canton,  in 
Oxford  County,  delivered  in  secret  session,  and  published  in  the 
Portland  Advertiser  of  the  twenty-seventh  of  February,  had 
touched  the  popular  chord,  and  was  quoted  everywhere.  An 
Honest  Man,  was  the  heading  of  the  speech.     Said  Mr.  Ludden  : 

"  Our  agent  at  Washington  says  we  can  make  a  better  bargain 
if  we  take  land  than  if  we  trade  for  cash  !  What,  sir !  bargain  our 
American  territory  and  American  citizens  for  land  or  cash  ?  Sell 
our  citizens  without  their  consent !  Sell  them  to  the  British,  and 
to  become  subjects  of  a  British  King !  Sir,  history  informs  us  of 
only  one  solitary  instance  in  this  republic  where  a  bargain  of  this 
kind  was  ever  attempted ;  and  that  was  at  West  Point,  in  the 
secret  session  held  by  Benedict  Arnold  and  Major  Andre.  Our 
title  to  the  territory  is  indisputable.  It  was  purchased  for  us. 
The  price  was  blood — the  blood  of  our  fathers.  And  shall  we,  sir, 
like  Esau,  sell  our  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage  ?  No  sir ! 
heaven  protect  us  from  such  disgrace.  *  *  Sir,  whoever  this 
day  votes  for  this  disgraceful  bargain  will,  I  trust,  live  to  see  the 
time  when  the  finger  of  scorn  shall  be  pointed  at  him,  and  shall 
hear  the  contemptuous  expression,  '  You  are  one  of  the  number 
who  voted  to  sell  a  part  of  your  country ! '  Yes,  sir,  we  sell  not 
only  a  part  of  our  country,  but  our  fellow  citizens  with  it ;  and 
among  these  citizens  a  member  of  this  House,  legally  chosen  by 
order  of  the  constituted  authorities  of  this  State,  and  who  has  as 
good  a  right  to  his  seat  as  any  member  on  this  floor.  Sir,  I  enter 
my  solemn  protest  against  these  whole  proceedings." 

Public  meetings  were  held  in  many  of  the  towns — especially 
in  the  country  towns — of  the  State,  mdignantly  and  solemnly 
protesting  against  and  denouncing  "  these  whole  proceedings," 


60 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


calling  upon  the  State  authorities,  upon  our  members  of  Con- 
gress and  the  federal  government  to  arrest  them,  and  to  take 
prompt  and  vigorous  measures  to  vindicate  the  honor  of  the 
State  and  nation,  and  to  preserve  their  territory  in  its  integrity. 

At  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  in  Augusta,  the  sentiment, 
"Our  hrctliren  of  Madawaska — a  little  too  white  to  he  sold  !  "  was 
drunk  with  tremendous  applause,  was  published  in  the  news- 
papers of  the  State,  and  of  other  States,  was  echoed  in  highway 
and  byway,  and  repeated  in  the  homes  of  the  people. 

The  result  was,  that  the  project  fell  through ;  failed  utterly, 
not  to  say  ignominiously.  ^  In  the  Legislature  of  the  next  year 
a  Resolve  was  passed — on  the  fourth  of  March,  1833 — which 
repealed  so  much  of  the  Resolve  of  the  previous  year  under 
which  Commi^jsioners  had  been  appointed  to  arrange  provisional 
terms  of  adjustment,  as  provided  for  the  submission  v  -^  their 
report  to  the  Legislature,  and  passed  another  Resolve  to  the 
effect  "  that  no  arrangement,  provisional  arrangement  or  treaty 
already  made,"  or  that  may  hereafter  be  made,  or  in  pursuance 
of  the  Resolve  to  which  this  is  additional,  shall  have  any  bind- 
ing force,  effect  or  operation  until  the  same  shall  have  been 
submitted  to  the  people  of  this  State  in  their  primary  assemblies, 
and  approved  by  a  majority  of  their  votes."  And  yet,  within 
ten  short  years,  and  without  submission  to  a  vote  of  the  people, 
this  territory,  "  invaluable,"  as  Governor  Lincoln  had  declared 
it,  these  fellow  citizens  of  ours — "  a  little  too  white  to  be  sold  " 
in  1832 — John  Baker,  holding  title  deeds  from  the  two  States, 
wife  and  children — "  all  my  pretty  chickens  and  their  dam  "— 
Wheelock,  Bacon  and  their  families,  Peter  Lezart,  too,  the  repre- 
sentative, and  hundreds  more,  were  transferred  and  conveyed  to 
a  foreign  Crown ! 

Nothing  more  of  importance  happened  within  the  State  in 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


61 


1833,  but  at  Washington,  as  will  Ije  seen,  propositions  of  grave 
^ncl  dangerous  import  were  l)eing  considered. 

When  the  Legislature  of  l(S3-4  assembled,  it  was  addressed  by 
Governor  Dunlap,  in  a  message  which  reminded  that  body  of 
the  mistakes  which  had  been  made,  and  expressed  a  hope  that, 
since  we  had  escaped  the  dangers  impending  therefrom,  there 
was  "  a  way  now  open  for  the  ultimate  attainment  of  our  rights." 

How  blind  and  devious  was  the  way  in  which  the  State  de- 
partment at  Washington  was  disposed  to  walk,  Governor  Dun- 
lap  did  not  then  know.  Subsequent  to  the  rejection,  in  1832,  of 
the  advice  of  the  King  of  Holland,  ^e  Senate  passed  a  resolu- 
tion advising  the  President  to  open  a  new  negotiation  "  according 
to  the  Treaty  of  Peace  of  1783."  Mr.  Livingston  was  Secretary 
of  State,  and  he  renewed  the  negotiation  in  a  manner  which 
only  an  ascription  of  the  grossest  ignorance  or  stupidity  on  his 
part  could  rescue  from  the  imputation  of  infidelity  to  the  cause 
whose  defence  had  been  placed  in  his  hands.  He  began  by  a 
half  admission  that  the  treaty  could  npt  be  executed.  He 
violated  the  express  instructions  under  which  he  was  acting,  by 
suggesting  to  the  British  Minister  that  Maine  would  probably 
give  her  consent  to  a  conventional  line.  On  the  thirtieth  of 
April,  1833,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Vaughan,  the  British  Min- 
ister, in  which  he  mtimated  that  a  line  might  be  drawn  from 
the  monument  to  the  highlands,  though  these  highlands  should 
not  be  foun'^.  due  north  from  the  monument,  and  when  the 
British  Minister  objected,  that  such  a  line  might  reach  highlands 
east  uf  the  meridian  of  the  St.  Croix,  Mr.  Livingston  hastens 
to  reply  (the  twenty-eighth  of  May),  that  "  the  American  gov- 
ernment can  make  no  pretensions  to  go  further  east  than  that  (a 
due  north)  line  ;  but  if,  on  a  more  accurate  survey,  it  should  be 
found  that  the  line  mentioned  in  the  treaty  should  pass  each  of 
the  highlands  therem  described,  and  that  they  should  be  found 


G2 


THE  NOKTII-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


at  some  point  furtlier  west,  thun  the  i)riiiciples  to  which  I  refer 
would  apply,  to  wit :  that  the  direction  of  the  line  to  connect  th^ 
two  natural  boundaries  must  he  altered,  so  as  to  suit  their  ascer- 
tained  position."  Well  might  a  committee  of  the  Legislature 
of  Massachusetts  say,  "  It  is  with  extreme  mortification  that  we 
contemplate  this  subject.  We  see,  or  think  we  see,  that  not  only 
the  honor  of  the  nation,  hut  the  sovereignty  of  Maine  and  the 
interest  of  Massachusetts*  have  been  totally  disregarded." 

During  the  years  1835,  1836  and  1837,  matters  remained 
very  much  in  statu  quo,  except  that  during  all  this  time  the 
government  and  people  of  New  ]5runswick  were  gradually 
pushing  their  claims  to  the  occupation  and  jurisdiction  of  the 
territory  in  dispute.  The  London  Chronicle  of  the  twenty-eighth 
of  May,  1831,  had  said :  "  The  disputed  territory  is  now  in  our 
possession,  and  as  we  believe  right  is  on  our  side,  we  would 
recommend  the  government  not  to  part  with  it.  Besides,  'j)<^s- 
scssion  is  nine  points  of  the  Imo"  This  advice  had  not  been 
unheeded  by  the  British  authorities  on  either  side  of  the  At- 
lantic. The  object  seemed  to  be  to  gain  time  and  put  off  nego- 
tiations until  the  British  claims  should  be  strengthened  by 
length  of  possession  and  renewed  and  multiplied  acts  of  jurisdic- 
tion and  sovereignty.  For,  notwithstanding  the  covenants  of 
neutrality  between  the  powers,  they  were  constantly  violated, 
and  with  impunity,  by  the  authorities  and  people  of  New 
Brunswick. 

So  far  had  these  encroachments  extended  before  the  close  of 
the  administration  of  Governor  Dunlap,  that,  in  his  annual 
message  for  1837,  he  felt  constrained  to  address  the  Legislature 
in  these  'strong  and  earnest  terms  : 

*  It  will  be  remembered  that,  at  this  time,  Massachusetts  was  joint  owner 
with  Maine  of  the  soil  of  the  undivided  wild  lands  of  the  latter  State. 


THE  NOHTII-EASTKUN  DOUNDARY. 


63 


h  I  refer 
meet  thg 

ir  nscer- 
^islature 

that  we 
not  only 

and  the 
kl." 

'einained 
time  the 
jradually 
1  of  the 
ty-eighth 
w  in  our 
6  would 
ides,  2>os- 
lot  been 

the  At- 
off  nego- 
lened  by 
[jurisdic- 
jnants  of 
violated, 

of   New 

close  of 
s  annual 
3gislature 


omt  owner 
ate. 


"  It  mr.st  be  conceded  that  our  people  and  their  State  govern- 
ment have  exercised  a  most  liberal  forbearance  upon  the  subject, 
considering  the  series  of  years  it  has  been  agitated,  and  the  suc- 
cessive incidental  circumstances  calculated  to  excite  and  aggravate 
popular  feeling.  Our  soil  and  our  sovereignty  have  been  invaded. 
Over  a  portion  of  domain  of  incalculable  value,  owned  jointly  by 
this  and  our  parent  Commonwealth,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
establish  an  adverse  claim.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  State  has  been 
rendered  inoperative,  either  for  the  protection  of  our  soil  or  of  our 
injured  inhabitants.  Under  color  of  authority  from  a  foreign 
government,  our  unoffending  citizens,  in  time  of  peace,  have  been 
forced  from  their  rightful  homes,  and  dragged  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  State.  Trials  for  imaginary  crimes  have  been  instituted  against 
them,  and,  upon  our  brethren,  guilty  of  no  offence,  and  charged 
with  no  wrong,  the  indignities  of  a  foreign  gaol  have  been  imposed. 
Our  political  system  has  lodged,  in  the  first  instance,  the  power 
and  the  duty  of  protection  with  the  federal  government.  To  that 
government  we  have  appealed,  but  relief  has  not  come.  Our  lands 
are  sequestered,  our  sovereignty  is  insulted  and  our  injured  citizens 
are  unredressed.  In  this  state  of  things,  is  it  not  due  to  our  own 
self-respect  as  well  as  to  the  cause  of  justice,  that  the  State  of 
Maine  should  insist  on  being  immediately  placed  by  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  into  the  possession  of  the  invaluable 
rights  from  which  she  has  been  so  long  excluded  ? '' 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  case  could  have  been  presented 
more  cogently  and  eloquently  than  it  was  in  these  noble 
words  of  Governor  Dunlap.  An  earnest  and  able  report  was 
made  to  the  Legislature  by  the  joint  committee,  to  which  the 
question  had  been  referred ;  and  the  following  Eesolves  were 
passed  by  the  Legislature : 

"Hesolved,  That  we  view  with  much  solicitude  the  British  usur- 
pations and  encroachments  on  the*  north-easterly  part  of  the  terri- 
tory of  this  State. 


64 


THE  NOUTII-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


^^  Resolved,  That  protonsions  so  groiiniUoss  and  fixtravapjant  in- 
dicate a  spirit  of  lioMtility  which  wo  had  no  rooson  to  expect  from 
a  nation  with  wliom  wo  aro  at  poaco. 

"  Kesolixid^  That  vij:jilance,  rosohition,  firmness  and  union  on  the 
part  of  this  State  aro  necessary  in  this  state  of  the  controversy. 

"  Resolued,  That  the  Governor  ho  authorized  and  requested  to 
call  on  the  President  of  tlio  United  States  to  cause  the  north- 
eastern boundary  of  this  State  to  bo  explored  and  surveyed  and 
monuments  erected,  according  to  the  treat}'  of  1783. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  co-operation  of  Massachusetts  bo  requested. 

"Resolved,  That  our  Senators  l)o  instructed  and  our  Represent- 
atives be  I'equested  to  endeavor  to  obtain  a  speedy  adjustment  of 
the  controversy." 

Copies  of  the  Report  and  Resolves  were  orderecl  to  be  sent 
to  the  President,  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  to  our  Senators 
and  Representatives  in  Congress,  and  to  the  Governors  and 
Senators  of  all  the  other  States. 

Here  was  notice,  at  last,  that  could  not  be  mistaken,  that  the 
patience  of  the  State  was  exhausted,  and  that  the  policy  which 
had  prevailed  for  several  years,  could  not  be  continued  without 
endangering  the  harmony  of  the  relations  heretofore  subsisting 
between  the  State  and  the  nation. 

The  successor  of  Governor  Dunlap  was  Edward  Kent,  and  he 
came  to  the  office  of  Governor  in  1838,  charged  with  the  spirit 
which  had  been  manifested  by  Governor  Dunlap  and  the  Legis- 
lature of  1837. 

In  his  annual  message,  he  went  over  the  essential  points  of 
the  controversy,  as  it  then  stood,  with  great  clearness  and  force. 
He  said : 

"It  has  required,  and  still  requires,  all  the  talents  of  her" 
(England's)  "statesmen  and  skill  of  her  diplomatists,  to  render 
that  obscure  and  indefinite  which  is  clear  and  unambiguous.     I 


THE  NOimi-K  VSTKUN  BOUXDAHY. 


II, I 


cannot  for  a  moment  (loul)t  tliat  it*  the  same  question  should  anno 
in  i>riv!ito  life,  in  relation  to  the  boundaries  of  adjiuient  farms, 
with  the  same  evidence  and  the  aamo  arguments,  it  would  ho  de- 
cidtfd  in  any  court,  in  any  civilized  country,  without  hesitation  or 
doubt,  according  to  our  «',laims." 

r>ut  (Ireiit  liritiiiii  d(^sirod,  and  was  detenniniMl  t<>  have, 
direct  coniniuiiicatidn  hetwoeu  her  h)Wtir  and  u^iper  rroviuce.s, 
and  buliuved  it  to  bo  obtainuldu  only  by  way  of  the  Madawaska 
Kiver  and  Teniiscouata  Lake.  She  sought  it  for  a  lon;^  tiiiic  as 
a  favor,  that  is,  as  a  ^rant  without  an  e([uivalent.  Slu'  had 
come  to  deniauJ  it,  and  with  it  about  one-third  of  our  territory, 
as  her  ri^dit. 

I'revious  to  Governor  Kent's  term,  in  the  year  1837,  Kbenezer 
S.  Greeley,  of  Dover,  had  been  a])pointed  by  the  State  authori- 
ties to  take  the  census  of  Madawaska,  that  the  people  living 
there  might  receive  their  portion  of  the  "  surplus  revenue,"  as 
it  was  called,  which,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  was  to  be 
divided,  iKr  capita,  anu>ng  the  people  of  the  State.  He  was 
arrested  by  the  Provincial  authorities  while  in  the  performance 
of  this  duty.     Referring  to  the  case,  the  Governor  said  : 

"  A  citizen  of  our  State,  Ebenozer  S.  Greeley,  now  lies  imjirisoned 
at  Fredericton,  seized,  as  it  is  said,  for  exercising  power  delegated 
to  him  under  a  law  of  this  State.  The  faces  connected  with  this 
arrest  are  uidcnown  to  me,  and  I  therefore  forbear  to  comment  at 
this  time  upon  them.  But  if  the  facts  are  that  he  was  so  seized, 
for  such  a  lawful  act,  the  dignity  and  sovereignty  of  the  State 
demand  his  immediate  release." 

Here,  it  will  be  observed,  no  humble  request,  such  as  was  ad- 
dressed to  Mr.  IJankhead,  is  contemplated,  but  a  peremptory 
demand.     The  Governor  conthiues : 

"  I  am  aware  that  we  are  met  by  the  assertion  that  the  parties 
have  agreed  to  permit  the  actual  jurisdiction  to  remain,  pending 

5 


1 

r 

1 

\- 

i 

i 

li 

< 

! 

}. 

1 

1 

1 

66 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


the  negotiation  as  it  existed  before.  I  have  yet  seen  no  evidence 
that  such  an  agreement  was  formally  entered  into  by  the  parties. 
But  certainly  Maine  was  no  party  to  such  an  understanding;  and 
at  all  events,  it  never  could  have  been  intended  to  be  perpetually 
binding,  or  to  extend  beyond  the  termination  of  the  then  pending 
negotiation.  Tluit  negotiation  is  ended.  The  old  ground  of  claim 
at  Mars  Hill  is  abandoned ;  a  new  allegation  is  made — that  the 
treaty  cannot  be  executed  and  must  be  set  aside.  In  the  mean- 
time this  wardenship" — New  Brunswick,  it  should  be  said,  had 
appointed  one  McLnugnlan  Warden  of  all  this  territory — "  is  estab- 
lished, and  all  claim  to  absolute  jurisdiction,  not  merely  at  Mada- 
waska,  but  over  the  whole  territory  north,  is  asserted  and  enforced. 
If  this  jurisdiction  is  to  be  tolerated  and  acquiesced  in  indefinitely, 
we  can  easily  see  why  negotiation  lags,  and  two  years  elapse  be- 
tween a  proposition  and  the  reply." 

Referring  to  the  latest  phase  of  the  British  contention,  of 
which  Governor  Kent  makes  mention,  viz:  "that  the  treaty 
cannot  be  executed,"  it  is  curious  to  note  the  changes  that  had 
taken  place  in  the  pretensions  of  Great  Britahi  since  the  treaty 
was  made.  At  first,  and  until  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  the  con- 
ceded line  was  north  of  the  river  St.  John,  and  upon  the  St. 
Lawrence  water-shed.  Subsequently  to  1817,  for  some  ten 
years,  it  was  at  Mars  Hill.  After  this,  it  was  discovered  that  there 
had  been  a  mistake  made  in  determining  the  source  of  the  river 
St.  Croix ;  it  was,  in  fact,  at  the  head  of  the  western  branch, 
and  so  the  highlands  contemplated  in  the  treaty  of  peace  were 
those  which  divided  the  waters  of  the  Penobscot  and  the  Ken- 
nebec, on  one  side,  from  those  of  the  St.  John  on  the  other. 
But  these  claims  were  so  palpably  absurd  and  contradictory, 
and  were  so  thoroughly  exploded  by  the  Legislatures  of  Maine 
and  Massachusetts,  by  their  Governors  and  statesmen,  that  Eng- 
land was  fain  to  abandon  them,  one  after  another,  and  rely 
upon  the  assumption  that  the  treaty  could  not  be  executed,  by 


lat 
tht 


THE  NORTII-EASTEEN  BOUNDARY. 


67 


jvidence 
parties, 
ig;  and 
petually 
pending 
of  claim 
that  the 
16  mean- 
aid,  had 
is  estab- 
[it  Mada- 
enforced. 
efinitely, 
(lapse  be- 

ntion,  of 
le  treaty 

that  had 
he  treaty 
,  the  con- 
11  the  St. 
some  ten 
that  there 

the  river 
11  branch, 
eace  were 

the  Ken- 
the  other, 
radictory, 

of  Maine 
that  Eng- 
,  and  rely 
icuted,  by 


reason  of  the  uncertain  and  contradictory  character  of  its  lan- 
guage. 

To  return  to  the  message  of  Governor  Kent.  He  urged  tliJit 
the  first  duty  of  the  State  was  to  claim  the  immediate  and 
efficient  action  of  the  general  government ;  said  that  her  rights 
must  be  vindicated  and  maintained,  "  and,  if  all  appeals  for  aid 
and  protection  are  in  vain  and  li-r  constitutional  rights  are 
disregarded,  forl;)earance  may  cease  to  be  a  virtue,  and,  in  the 
language  of  the  lamented  Lincoln,  Maiu!j  '  may  be  compelled 
to  deliberate  on  an  alternative  which  will  test  the  strictness  of 
her  principles  and  the  firmness  of  her  temper.' " 

"  I  confess,"  said  the  Governor,  in  bringing  his  observations 
on  this  subject  to  a  close,  "  that  my  convictions  are  strong  tliat 
Maine  has  been  wronged  by  a  foreign  government  and  neglected 
by  her  own ;  and  I  do  not  understand  the  diplomatic  art  of 
softening  the  expression  of  unpalatalile  truths." 

The  earnest  language  of  Governors  Dunlap  and  Kent,  and 
the  Resolves  of  the  Legislature,  had  the  effect  to  awaken  the 
general  government  to  a  more  vigorous  effort  than  it  had  put 
forth  for  a  long  thne,  towards  effecting  an  adjustment  of  tlie 
question.  John  Forsyth,  of  Georgia,  had  become  Secretary  of 
State,  and  on  the  first  of  March,  1838,  he  addressed  a  long 
comnnmication  to  Governor  Kent,  enclosing  copies  of  a  pro- 
tracted correspondence  between  him  and  Mr.  Fox,  the  British 
Minister,  on  the  subject  of  the  boundary,  and  requesting  the 
Governor  to  take  the  sense  of  the  State  as  to  the  opening  of 
direct  negotiation  for  a  conventional  line.  He  conceded  that 
such  a  line  could  n(jt  be  established  without  the  assent  of  the 
State  of  Maine.  This  communication,  with  the  accompanying 
correspondence,  was  by  the  Governor  transmitted  to  the  Legis- 
lature, with  a  message,  in  which  he  reviewed,  to  some  extent, 
the  history  of  previous  negotiations,  and  stated  the  objections 


f)8 


THE  X0imi-EASTE1!N  BOUNDARY. 


Avliicli,  to  his  iniiul,  ])()rc  against  any  voluiitoermg  of  proposi- 
ti(jiis  for  a  convciitioiuil  line.  He  said  :  "  I  fear  that  if  we 
aljandon  the  treaty  lan<iuarre,  so  clear  and  so  decided  in  our 
favor,  and  so  much  at  variance  with  their  chiim,  we  shall  leave 
a  certainty  for  an  uncertainty,  and  throw  doubt,  confusion  and 
embarrassment  over  our  claim  and  our  course  of  action,  and 
yield  to  Great  Britahi  the  great  obstacle  we  now  present  to  her 
gras]'hig  spirit — the  solemn  treaty  of  1783." 

Tlie  Legisliiture,  concurring  in  oi)inion  with  Governor  Kent, 
on  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  18;58, 

'^Resolved,  Tliat  it  is  not  expedient  to  give  the  assent  of  the 
State  to  tlie  federal  ijcovernment,  to  treat  with  that  of  Great 
Britain  for  a  conventional  line,  but  tliat  this  State  will  insist  on 
tlie  line  established  by  the  treaty  of  1783." 

It  also  resolved,  that,  believing  it  to  be  a  grave  f|uestion 
whether  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  referrhig  to  arbitration,  had  not 
done  its  office,  and  was  therefore  no  longer  in  force,  the  State 
was  not  prepared  to  give  her  consent  to  a  new  arbiter.  Qui; 
members  of  Congress  were  recpiested  to  urge  the  passage  of  the 
bill  before  that  body,  providing  for  the  survey  of  the  north- 
eastern boundary  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  event  that  the  bill  should  not  be  passed,  and  the  fed- 
eral government  should  fail,  either  ni  conjunction  with  that  of 
Great  Britain,  or  alone,  to  make  the  survey  before  the  next 
September,  it  was  declared  to  be  "  the  imperative  duty  of  the 
Crovernor,  without  further  delay,  to  appoint  suitable  Commis- 
sioners and  a  surveyor  for  ascertaining,  running  and  locating 
the  north-eastern  boundary  line  of  this  State,  and  to  cause  the 
same  to  be  carried  into  operation." 

Eesolves  were  passed  at  this  session,  calling  upon  Congress  to 
erect  a  strong  fortiticatiou  m  the  eastern  section  of  the  State. 


THE  NOPtTII-E ASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


GO 


It  will  be  remoml)erc3(l  that,  pendinj^-  the  proceediii«,fs  under  the 
convention  of  1827  for  an  arbitration,  tliere  was  an  understandinii 
or  arrangement,  that  during  the  arbitration  each  |)arty  was  to 
practice  forbearance  and  moderation.  The  United  States  agreed 
only  to  exercise  its  gcjod  offices,  inculcating  a  spirit  of  modera- 
tion hi  Maine,  in  the  assurance  that  it  would  be  reciprocated. 
For  this  we  have  th(}  explicit  testimony  of  ;Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Van 
Buren  and  otlier  Secretaries.  Mr.  Forsyth,  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Fox,  denies  that  tjicre  was  ever  any  relincpushment  of  jurisdic- 
tion, either  express  or  implied,  and  aliirms  tliat  "  the  United 
States  has,  on  every  public  occasion,  asserted  th^t  both  the  right 
to  exclusive  possession  and  the  exercise  thereof  belonged  to 
Mahie  and  the  United  States." 

But  tins  understanding  in  regard  to  mutual  forbearance,  so 
far  from  being  respected  by  the  Provincial  and  ]>ritisli  autliori- 
ties,  was  only  made  tlie  pretext  and  excuse  for  steadily  renewing 
and  increasing  the  claims  of  New  Brunswick  to  ownersliip  and 
jurisdiction,  and  of  denyhig  all  right  of  occupation  and  juris- 
diction on  the  part  of  the  State  of  Maine ;  so  that,  witliin  ten 
years  from  this  arrangement,  we  find  Sir  John  Harvey,  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of  New  Brunswick,  claiming  to  have,  under  an 
agreement  of  the  two  governments,  the  right  to  exclusive  pos- 
session of  the  territory  until  the  thne  of  a  final  decision  in 
regard  to  the  boundary;  and  that,  to  secure  the  political  enjoy- 
ment of  such  right,  he  had  placed  the  entire  territory,  to  a  })oint 
many  miles  south  of  the  Aroostook  Piiver,  under  the  supervi- 
sion and  control  of  an  officer  called  a  "  Warden."  This  insolent 
and  audacious  claim  was  made  known  to  the  State  and  federal 
authorities  only  to  be  denied  and  refuted,  and  it  put  the  former 
on  the  inquiry  whether  the  State,  by  non-action  in  presence  of 
such  claim,  shouhl  yield  to  it  a  practical  acquiescence.  The  result 
was  the  appointment  of  a  Surveyor,  Dr.  S.  S.  Whipple,  of  East- 


M 


i 


70 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


port,  to  survey  several  townships  of  land  on  or  near  the  Aroos- 
took River.  While  Dr.  Whipple  was  engaged  in  the  perform- 
ance of  this  service,  lie  received  a  communicttion  from  James 
IVIcLaiighlan,  •'  Warden  of  the  Disputed  Territory,"  as  he  called 
liiniself,  "  protesting  and  warnhig  "  him  forthwith  to  desist  from 
liis  proceedings.  To  which  Dr.  Whipple  made  answer — that 
acknowledging  no  governjnent  or  power  but  that  of  the  State 
under  wliich  he  had  tlie  honor  of  acting,  sullicient  to  control 
his  duty  or  countermand  the  orders  which  governed  his  present 
movements,  he  should  coi  .  .uue  to  carry  out  the  instructions 
that  had  been  given  liim. 

In  the  meanthne,  Irovernor  Kent  had  transmitted  the  report 
and  resolutions  of  the  Legislature  asking  that  the  boundary  line 
should  be  run,  to  the  I'resident  and  to  our  Members  of  Congress. 
He  made  representation  of  our  unprotected  frontier,  and  re- 
quested that  lines  of  defence  and  military  posts  should  be  estab- 
lished ;  and  he  invited  Hon.  Charles  S.  Daveis,  of  I'ortland,  to 
visit  Washhigton  in  behalf  of  the  State,  to  explain  aiKl  urge 
these  requests. 

Mr.  Forsytli,  the  Secretary  of  State,  seemed  more  deeply 
impressed  than  liis  immediate  predecessor  had  been  with  the 
strength  of  the  claims  of  Maine.  He  received  these  communi- 
cations of  the  Governor  m  an  apj:  reciative  spirit,  and  his  agent 
with  the  consideration  due  to  liis  personal  character,  and  with 
the  courtesy  which  distinguished  the  character  and  bearing  of 
the  accomplished  Secretary. 

Among  the  results  of  these  prompt  and  vigorous  measures  on 
the  part  of  the  Governor  of  Maine,  were  (1)  a  letter  from  Major 
General  Maconil),  advising  bun  that  IJrigadier  General  John  E. 
Wool,  Inspector  General,  would  be  instructed  to  repair  to  the 
State  of  Maine,  and  make  a  reconnoissance  with  a  view  of  ascer- 
taining its  military  features  and  resources,  project  a  plan  for  its 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


71 


defence  by  the  estal)lishment  of  military  posts  and  communica- 
tions, arsenals,  depots  of  arms,  munitions,  &c., — duties  which 
were  soon  afterwards  performed.  (2.)  In  the  langua<^e  of 
Governor  Kent,  "  The  question  was  rescued  from  the  death-like 
stupor  in  winch  it  had  so  long  rested ;  a  new  impulse  was  given 
to  the  cause.  For  the  first  time,  the  whole  subject  was  made 
the  foundation  of  a  Congressional  report,  and  elicited  in  investi- 
gation and  debate  the  talents  and  eloquence  of  some  (jf  our 
ablest  statesmen.  *  *  *  j^  was  assumed  and  treated  as  a 
national  matter  which  involved  the  vital  interests  of  one  mem- 
ber of  the  confederacy,  and  the  plighted  ^aith  and  constitutioual 
obligations  of  the  Union  to  make  the  controversy  its  own." 
Referrhig  to  the  able  and  decided  report  of  Mr.  Buchanan  (from 
which  I  have  already  quoted),  the  Governor  says :  "  The  Re- 
solves, finally  adopted  in  both  branches  without  a  dissenting 
vote,  fully  assert  the  unquestionable  justice  of  our  cause,  and 
the  validity  of  our  title." 

Remarking  upon  the  Senate  debate,  alluded  to  by  Governor 
Kent,  Mr.  Da  /eis,  on  his  return  to  Maine,  aaid  in  his  report : 
"Among  the  Senators  most  conspicuous  in  the  part  they  took 
in  support  of  the  views  expressed  in  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee," were  Mr.  Reuel  Williams,  Mr.  Webster,  Mr.  John 
Davis  and  Mr.  Clay.  Of  Mr.  Davis,  he  observes :  "  Without 
derogation  from  the  merits  of  any  other  honorable  memljcr  of 
tli.af  body,  it  may  be  due  to  say  that  he  distinguished  himself 
throughout  the  debate  as  the  inflexible  and  unllhiching  champion 
of  the  rights  of  Maine,  and  of  the  position  she  had  assumed, 
and  the  principles  she  had  maintained  through  circumstances 
of  great  trial  to  her  fortitude  and  forbearance." 

The  general  government  having  neglected  to  take  measures 
for  ascertaining  and  running  the  boundary  line  by  the  first  of 
September,  the  Governor,  on  the  third  of  that  month,  appointed 


72 


THE  NOIITII-EASTERX  BOUNDARY. 


Jolin  (r.  Deane,  Milford  P.  Norton  and  James  Irisli,  Es([uires, 
Comniissioncrs  to  ])urform  that  duty,  in  ])ursuance  of  tlie  pro- 
visions of  the  Resolve  of  the  twenty-third  of  March,  ISo.S. 

These  j^entlcnnen,  of  wlioni  the  two  last  named  had  been 
land  iiL^-ents  of  the  State,  on  the  tliirteenth  of  September,  and 
after  a  conference  witli  the  CJovernor,  i)roceeded  to  the  per- 
foriHinice  of  the  service  with  which  they  had  been  charged,  and 
on  tlie  thirty-first  of  Decemljer  made  their  report. 

In  comnmnicating  tliis  report  to  tlie  Legislature  of  1839, 
Governor  Kent  gives  the  substantial  facts  that  appear  in  it. 
He  says : 

V 

"  Tlieir  report,  which  I  have  the  pleasure  to  transmit  to  you, 
will  he  road  with  interest  and  satisfaction.  By  that  it  appears 
that  the  ex])loring  line  was  found  marked  to  near  the  north-west 
angle, ;  that  the  base  of  the  countr}/  rises  constantly  and  regularly 
from  the  monument  at  the  head  of  the  St.  Croix  to  the  angle, 
which  is  from  two  to  three  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  more  than  five  hundred  feet  above  the  Kedgwick,  one  of  the 
streams  running  into  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  near  the  said  angle  and 
the  St.  Lawrence  waters ;  that  the  due  north  line,  if  continued  to 
the  valley  below  the  north-west  angle,  actually  strikes  the  St. 
Lawrence  waters,  and  that  the  country  is  high,  and  even  mountain- 
ous alxmt  this  spot ;  and  there  is  no  difficulty  in  tracing  a  line 
westwardly  along  distinct  and  well-defined  highlands,  dividing 
waters  according  to  ^  lie  words  of  the  treaty." 

And  thus  there  was  brushed  away  forever  the  flimsy  and 
worthless  pretext  which  liad  formed  of  late  years  so  prominent 
a  feature  of  the  British  case,  viz :  that  it  was  impossible  to 
iind  a  line  that  conformed  to  the  language  of  tlie  treaty.  Of 
this  fact  there  never  had  been  any  doul)t  ni  this  State — indeed, 
the  proposition  was  one  which  was  scarcely  susceptible  of  doubt. 


THE  XOKTII-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


73 


But  the  energy  and  fidiility  of  our  State  govorniuout  at  tliis 
time  were  not  limited  by  these  measures,  necessary  and  im- 
portant as  they  were. 

It  liad  come  to  tlie  knowledf^e  of  the  State  Land  i\,i>ent,  the 
Hon.  Eli  jail  L.  Handin — and  let  me  stop  here  to  say  that  I  cannot 
mention  the  name  of  this  admirahle  gentleman  without  some 
allusion  to  the  wisdom,  probity  and  genial  humor  liy  wliich  his 
life  was  so  strongly  marked,  and  which  has  made  his  memory 
so  pleasant  to  all  of  his  surviving  contemporaries,  who  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  hi!=:  intimate  friends, — tliat  trcs])assing 
on  our  timber  lands  within  the  territory  in  dispute  liad  l)een 
carried  on  for  several  years,  and  was  then  being  counaitted  by 
parties  from  the  Province,  and  sometimes  under  license  from  its 
authorities.  Accordingly  this  officer,  in  concert  witli  (leorge  W. 
Coffin,  Esquire,  Land  Agent  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  fourteenth 
of  December,  deputed  George  W.  Buckmore,  Es(piire,  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  territory,  ascertain  and  report  the  facts,  and  remove 
and  sell,  under  the  provisions  of  an  act  of  the  LegiKlatur(!  passed 
in  1831,  the  teams  and  supplies  of  the  trespassers.  r>y  the 
report  of  Mr.  Buckmore,  D:.ade  on  the  twentieth  of  January, 
1839,  it  appeared  that  large  numbers  of  men  from  New  Ih'uns- 
wick  were  trespassing  on  these  lands,  who  not  only  refused  to 
desist  from  cutting  timber  on  them,  Ijut  defied  the  powers  of  the 
State  to  stay  their  operations. 

These  facts  were  communicated  to  the  Legislaturii  ])y  Gov- 
ernor Fairfield  (who  had  been  elected  as  successor  to  (governor 
Kent)  on  the  twenty-third  of  January,  1839.  Witli  tliis  mes- 
sage, the  "Aroostook  War,"  an  event  not  unfamed  in  history  nor 
unknown  to  song,  may  be  properly  said  to  have  commenced — 
a  war  which,  notwithstanding  the  ridicule  attached  to  some  of 
its  episodes,  and  its  tame  conclusion,  forms  a  chapter  in  tli(3  his- 
tory of  our  State  which  does  real  honor  to  its  border  chivalry. 


74 


THE  NORTII-EASTEEN  BOUNDARY. 


^The  people  of  the  State  were  tlioroii^rlily  fironsed— they  had 
risen  to  the  hei-^dit  of  the  <freat  argument,  and  were  prepared  to 
do  tlieir  (hity  to  the  State  and  country. 

It  8h(nild  be  said  that  this  earnestness  and  unanimity  of 
feeling'  in  Maine  were,  without  doubt,  aided  by  the  position 
which  had  been  taken  b;-  the  .«ister  Commonwealth.  Not  only 
had  Massachusetts  come  •  li«3  rescue  in  1831,  1832  and  1833, 
when  the  rights  of  our  S  :  3  w  j/--.  in  imminent  danger,  but  in 
1838,  her  Senators  and  Eepresenta  •  .>s  in  Congress  had  main- 
tained in  debate  our  claims  and  rights  with  power  and  effect ; 
and  in  her  Legislature,  a  report  of  a  committee,  of  which  Hon. 
Charles  Hudson  was  chairman,  was  made,  in  which  the  subject 
was  treated  with  conspicuous  fullness  and  cogency,  and  resolu- 
tions were  passed,  declarnig  that  the  British  claim  was  totally 
unfounded,  and  would,  if  persisted  in,  lead  to  a  disturbance  of 
friendly  relations  between  the  two  countries ;  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  had  no  power,  under  the  Constitution, 
to  cede  to  a  foreign  nation  any  territory  lying  within  the  limits 
of  any  State ;  that  the  proposition  made  by  a  late  Executive  of 
the  United  States  to  the  British  government,  to  seek  for  the 
"  Highlands  "  toest  of  the  meridian  of  the  St.  Croix,  v/as  a  de- 
parture from  the  express  language  of  the  treaty,  an  infringement 
of  the  rights  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts,  and  in  derogati'^n  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  that  the  proposition  for 
a  conventional  line  was  calculated  to  strenuthen  the  claim  of 
Great  Britain,  impair  the  honor  of  the  United  States,  and  put 
in  jeopEirdy  the  interests  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts.  The 
Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  was  directed  to  send  copies  of 
the  report  and  resolutions  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
the  Governors  of  the  several  States  and  to  the  members  of 
Congress  from  Massachusetts,  and  request  the  latter  to  use  all 


THE  XORTII-EASTEllX  BOUNDARY. 


hoiiora1)le  means  to  bring  the  contrcjversy  to  a  just  and  speedy 
termination. 

Governor  Fairfield,  in  his  annual  message  of  18.39,  following 
closely  in  tlie  footsteps  of  his  predecessor,  said : 

"  If,  however,  the  general  government  under  no  circumstances 
should  be  disposed  to  take  the  lead  in  measures  less  pacific  than 
those  hitlierto  pursued,  yet  I  trust  we  are  not  remodik\ss.  If 
Maine  sliould  take  possession  of  her  territory  up  to  the  line  of  the 
trfeaty  of  1783,  resolved  to  maintain  it  with  all  the  force  she  i8 
capable  of  exerting,  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  tlie  British  govern- 
ment to  wrest  that  possession  from  her  must  bring  the  gene  1 
government  to  her  aid  and  defence,  if  the  solemn  obligations  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  are  to  be  regarded  as  o.  any 
validity." 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  January,  the  Legislature  ]  'nssed  a 
Resolve  directmg  the  Land  Agent  to  employ  fortiiwitli,  .  suffi- 
cient force  to  arrest,  detain  and  imprison  all  persons  found 
trespassing  on  the  territory  of  this  State,  as  bounded  by  the 
treaty  of  1783. 

Laider  the  authority  of  this  Resolve,  the  Land  Agent,  with 
two  hundred  chosen  men,  repaired  to  the  Aroostook  River, 
where  they  understood  were  some  three  hundred  men  from  the 
Province,  armed  and  arrayed  for  the  purpose  of  resistance.  On 
the  approach  of  the  Maine  "  Posse,"  as  it  was  called,  the  Pro- 
vincial force  retired  towards  the  New  Brunswick  luie,  followed 
by  the  Land  Agent,  the  Hon.  Rufus  Mclntire,  and  his  assist- 
ants, G.  G.  Cushman  and  Thomas  Ikrtlett,  Esquires,  who  went 
to  the  house  of  one  Fitzherbert,  where  they  put  up  for  the  night. 
This  place  was  three  or  four  miles  in  advance  of  the  encamp- 
ment of  their  company.  In  the  night,  the  trespassers — who  had 
become  acquainted  with  these  facts — went,  to  the  number  of 
fifty  or  more,  to  Fitzlierbert's,  seized  the  Land  Agent  and  his 


76 


THE  NOUTH-EASTEUN  BOUNDAllY. 


assistants,  iuul  transported  tliorn  across  tlu'.  border,  and  tluinee 
to  Frcdci-icton.  Col.  P^benezer  Weljster,  a  pnnnineiit  citizen  uf 
Oroiu)  ill  this  State,  who  was  at  Woodstock  when  the  prisoners 
were  broii^^lit  tliere,  attempted  to  i)rocure  their  release.  Ihit  his 
a])peals  to  the  authorities,  so  far  from  elfecthig  the  dischar;^e  of 
tlie  jtrisoiiers,  leil  to  his  own  arrest,  nnd  lie  was  sent  witli  tlie 
others  to   Fredericton,  where  they  were  all  tlirown  into  i)rison. 

Wiit'ii  these  facts  became  known  at  Aui^usta,  Governor  Fair- 
field rtM[uested  Hon.  Jonathan  R  K(\t,'ers,  a  distinj^'uished  citizen 
of  lian^or  and  a  former  Attorney  General  of  the  State,  to  visit 
Fredericton  and  ascertain  the  facts,  as  nnderstood  there,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  alxluction  of  the  Land  Aj^ent  and  his  party,  and  to 
demand  tlieir  instant  release.  This  mission  of  Mr.  Eogers  re- 
sulted i.i  the  release  of  these  gentlemen  on  their  parole.  The 
rrovincial  "Warden,"  McLaughlan,  had  in  the  meantime  been 
arrested  by  the  Land  iVgent's  posse  and  sent  to  Ikngor.  He 
was  diitained  for  a  short  time,  and  then  released  ou  parole,  by 
order  of  Governor  FairHeld. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  February,  the  Governor  of  New  Bruns- 
wick issued  a  proclamation,  hi  which  it  was  recited  that  he  had 
ordered  a  sufficient  military  force  to  proceed  to  the  scene  of 
certain  idleged  outrages,  to  repel  foreign  invasion,  &c. 

This  proclamation  and  tlie  arrest  of  tlie  Laud  Agent  and 
his  assistants  were  made  the  subjects  of  a  spirited  message  by 
Governor  Fairlield  to  the  Legislature,  on  the  eighteenth  of 
February. 

"  How  long,"  he  inquired,  "are  we  to  be  thus  trampled  upon 
— our  rights  and  claims  derided — our  powers  contemned — and 
the  State  degraded  ?  *  *  We  cannot  tamely  submit  to  be 
driven  from  our  territory,  while  engaged  in  the  civil  employment 
of  looking  after  and  protecting  our  property,  without  incurring 
a  large  measure  of  ignominy  and  disgrace." 


THF,  NDIiTII-RASTKim  BOCXDAUY. 


t  I 


Tli(^  L('f;isliitur(',  on  tl\(!  twisntii'th  of  Fubrunry,  ]);iss('(l  n 
PiGSolvo  ])r(»vi(liiij4'  for  the  ruisiii^'  and  forwarding'  forthwitli  of  ii 
military  force  to  tlio  toi'ritory  to  ])rev(;nt  furtliur  (loprndations ; 
and  tli(i  sum  of  oij^dit  hundred  tliousand  dollars  vvasa]))iro])riat(;d 
to  carry  out  the  ])ur]>()ses  of  the  llesolve  and  of  the  IJesolve 
of  the  twenty-fourth  of  January. 

A  liesolve  was  passed  on  the  twenty -second  of  I-'ehruary, 
requesting  the  Governor  to  hiform  the  President  of  tlic  iiction 
of  Maine,  and  to  request  the  aid  of  the  general  government  in 
support  of  the  rights  of  the  State.  In  transmitting  these 
Iiesolves  and  other  documents  to  the  President  of  the  l"nit(;d 
States,  Governor  Fairfield  says: 

"In  this  state  of  things,  I  have  to  inform  your  Excollcnry  that 
our  citizens  now  upon  this  territory,  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
State,  will  not  leave  it  without  accomplishing  their  ohject,  unless 
compelled  so  to  do  h}^  a  superior  force ;  that  one  thousand  drafted 
men  will  march  to  the  Aroostook  on  Wednesday,  the  twenty-first 
instant,  to  aid  and  assist  the  Land  Agent  in  carrying  into  effect 
the  liesolve  of  the  twenty-fourth  of  January.  I  shall  forthwith 
proceed  to  order  a  further  draft  of  the  militia  of  at  least  ten  thou- 
sand men,  who  will  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march.  Such 
farther  measures  as  may  be  found  necessary  to  take  and  maintain 
the  rights  of  this  State  in  the  premises,  I  assure  your  Excellency 
I  shall  not  fail  to  take,  and  that  with  as  much  pronqttness  as 
circumstances  will  permit." 

The  Governor  then  makes  a  formal  call  upon  the  I'resident 
"  for  that  aid  and  assistance  which  the  whole  States  have  guar- 
anteed to  each  in  such  an  emergency." 

Orders  were  issued  by  the  Governoj  and  Commander-in-Chief 
for  calling  out  and  mobilizing  the  militia  of  the  State.  Major 
General  Isaac  Hodsdon,  of  the  Third  Division,  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  troops  that  were  ordered  out,  and  which  con- 


78 


TIIK  NOltTH-EASTF.ltN  BOUNHAKY. 


Histt'd  f»f  iilxMit  elevt'ulmiulrt'd  men  fr<»m  the  Tliird  Division  and 
tliiilccn  (Mmi])anit!.s  from  tlu!  Second  Division,  enilmicitif,'  cavalry, 
artillery,  infantry  and  rillcfincn.  Those  trooi)s  were  stationed  at 
•  litl'erent  jxiints  on  the  frontier,  from  lloukou  to  the  Aroostook 
Jtiver.  A  detachment  of  thn^e  luuidred  and  sixty-nine  men 
was  (quartered  at  ('alais.  It  was  under  the  command  of 
Major  ( Jenend  Foster.  <  )rd(!rs  were  issued  for  callin;^'  <ait  three 
companies  of  the  Fifth  Division,  and  eleven  companies  of  the 
Sixth.  The  men  were  rendezvoused  at  Au;4UHta  on  the  seventh, 
ei<,fhth  and  ninth  of  jNlurch.  A  rcLfiment  from  the  Fi;^hth 
Division  was  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Skowhegan ;  hut  this 
order  was  countermantled  hefore  the  troops,  or  at  least  before  all 
of  thei)i,  arrived  at  that  place. 

On  the  eighth  of  jVIanth,  Governor  Fairfield  sent  a  message 
to  the  Lej^islature,  communicatiuf;' sundry  documents  which  had 
been  transmitted  to  liim  by  Mr.  F(jrsyth,  and  covering  a  message 
to  Congress  from  the  Fresident,  a  correspondence  between  Mt. 
Forsyth  and  Mr.  Fox,  and  a  memorandum  of  an  agreement 
drawn  u[)  l)y  these  gentlemen.  This  agreement,  which  did 
not  claim  to  be  binding  on  the  State  of  Maine,  recommended 
that  "  Her  Majesty's  forces  will  no*">  seek  to  expel,  by  military 
force,  the  armed  party  which  has  been  sent  by  Maine  into 
the  ilistrict  bordering  on  the  Aroostook  Tiiver,  but  that  the 
government  of  Maine  will  voluntarily,  and  without  unneces- 
sary delay,  withdraw  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  disputed  territory 
any  armed  force  now  witliin  them ;  and  that  if  future  necessity 
should  arise  for  dispersing  notorious  tres])assers  or  protecthig 
public  property  from  de})redation,  the  operation  shall  be  con- 
ducted by  concert,  jointly  or  severally,  according  to  agree- 
ment between  the  governments  of  Maine  and  New  Brunswick." 
An  arrangement  better  cf^lculated  than  this  to  prolong  the  dis- 
pute, and  thicken  its  embarrassments,  can  scarcely  be  conceived. 


THE  NORTir-E ASTERN  noUXDARY. 


70 


isidii  and 
r  ciiviilry, 
tinned  at 
Uodstook 
lini!  UKiii 
maud  of 
(tut  three 
L's  of  the 
seventli, 
e  Ei^litli 
;  but  this 
he  fore  all 


a  message 
,vhich  had 
a  messnj^c 
tweeu  Mr. 
ajireeiiient 
A'hich   did 
[)iniiieuded 
>y  military 
►lahie  into 
;  that   the 
t  unneces- 
;d  territory 
e  necessity 
protecthig 
dl  be  con- 
to  agree- 
Jrunswick." 
)ng  the  dis- 
3  conceived. 


It  found  no  favor  in  this  State.  After  a  clear  aTid  candid 
review  of  tlie  situation  by  tlie  (governor  in  a  niessage  to  the 
Legislature  wliich  eonnnunicated  the  agreement  t(t  that  liody, 
he  expressed  the  oitinion  that  it  ouglit  not  to  be  ftcce])ted,  and 
gave  strong  and  convincing  reasons  in  snjijxirt  of  that  opinion. 
Jhit  he  said  he  would  recommend  the  fdllowing: 

'*  Tliiit  when  wo  are  fully  Hatinficd,  either  by  the  dceliirutiou  of  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Bruiiswiek,  or  otherwi.se,  that  he  has 
abaiuloiuid  all  idea  of  occupying  the  disputed  ten*itory  with  a  military 
force,  and  of  atttuujitiug  an  exjtulsion  of  our  party,  that  then  tho 
Governor  be  authorized  to  withdraw  our  military  force,  leaving  tho 
Land  Agent  with  a  posse,  armed  or  unarmed,  as  tho  case  may 
recjuire,  sufficient  to  carry  into  effect  your  original  design,  that  of 
driving  out  or  arresting  the  trespassers,  and  preserving  and  pro- 
tecting tie  timber  from  their  depredations." 

The  Legislature,  on  the  twenty-third  of  March,  pjissed  lieso- 
lutions  asserting  that  the  right  of  tins  State  to  exclusivi;  juris- 
diction over  all  the  disputed  territory  had  been  constant,  and  was 
indefeasible,  and  that  no  agreement  had  ever  been  made  which 
could  impair  her  prerogative  to  be  the  sole  judge  of  the  time 
when,  and  the  measure  in  which,  that  right  should  be  erd'orced ; 
that  in  view  of  measures  recently  adojtted  by  the  government 
of  the  Union  m  relation  to  this  (piestion*  and  particularly  the 
provision  made  for  a  special  Minister  to  the  court  of  St.  James, 
and  actuated  by  a  desire  for  an  amicable  settlement,  she  would 
forbear  to  exercise  her  jurisdiction  over  that  part  of  her  territory 
now  usurped  by  l^  •;  Province  of  New  l^runswick,  so  far  as  she 
could  consistently  v.  itli  the  maintenance  of  the  Kesolve  of  the 
twenty-fourth  of  January  last;  but  that  she  had  seen  nothing 
in  recent  events  to  cause  her  to  doubt  that  it  was  her  imperative 
duty  to  protect  her  domain,  and  that  no  power  on  earth  should 
drive  her  from  an  act  of  jurisdiction  so  proper  in  itself,  and  to 


80 


THE  XOIITII-EASTEKN  BOUNDAEY. 


wliioli  licr  honor  v/as  irrevf)CJibly  committed;  that  the  action  of 
the  Govornor  had  their  cordial  approbation,  and  that  tliey  con- 
curred in  tne  doctrines  and  sentiments  contained  in  liis  recent 
messafje,  and  wouhl  authorize  him  to  withdraw  the  troo])s  on 
the  conditions  therein  set  forth ;  that  the  practicability  of  runnhig 
and  ^narkinL>'  the  line,  in  conformity  with  the  treaty,  was  Ijcyond 
a  doubt,  and  that  a  crisis  liad  arrived  when  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  general  government  co  have  the  line  run,  either  by  a  joint 
connnission  or  on  her  own  authority. 

It  should  be  said  tliat  tlie  action  of  the  State  at  this  time  met 
with  the  strong  and  general  approval  of  the  country,  which 
seemed  at  L  st  to  be  thoroughly  awakened  to  the  gravity  of  the 
situation,  to  a  full  recognition  of  the  serious  wrongs  that  had 
been,  iniiicted  upon  ]\Iaine,  to  her  indisputable  title  and  to  her 
long  forbearance,  and  it  pledged  her  its  support.  Maryland 
and  Alabama  from  the  South  sent,  through  resolutions  of  their 
Legislatures,  *vords  of  sympathy  and  prolFers  of  co-operation,  as 
Virginia  and  Kentucky  liad  done  before ;  Massaclnisetts  re- 
^  eated  her  just  appreciation  of  the  rights  of  Maine  and  of 
tlie  wrongs  she  had  suffered ;  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  all 
New  England  had  the  year  before  signified  their  purpose  to 
stand  for  the  ilefence  of  our  soil,  wliilo  this  year  Indiana  joined 
W'th  Ohio  in  "  a  generous  oblation  of  her  whole  means  and 
resources  to  the  authorities  of"  the  Union,  in  sustaining  our 
rights  and  honor." 

By  an  act  of  Congress,  upon  a  report  of  a  House  Committee, 
the  President  was  autliorized  to  resist  and  repel  any  attempt  on 
the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  enforce  by  arms  her  claim  to  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction.  The  whole  military  and  naval  forces  of  the 
United  States  were  placed  at  his  disposal,  with  such  portions  of 
the  militia  as  he  might  see  fit  to  call  out  for  our  protection. 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


81 


K'tioii  of 
wy  con- 
s  recent 
•()0])s  on 
nuniing 
Ijoyond 
duty  of 
a  joint 


inie  met 
y,  which 
:y  of  the 
hat  had 
id  t(j  her 
laryland 
of  their 
■ation,  as 
setts  re- 
i  and  of 
I  and  all 
rpose  to 
la  joined 
3ans  and 


nng  our 


mniittee, 
tempt  on 
to  exclu- 
es  of  the 
3rtions  of 
rotection. 


An  approi)riation  of  ten  millions  of  dollars  for  the  purpose  was 
made. 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  in  Maine,  Major  (reneral  Win- 
tield  Scott,  U.  S.  A.,  appeared  upon  the  scene.  At  the  instance 
of  the  President  he  visited  Augusta,  and  after  a  conference  with 
Governor  l''airdeld  and  members  of  the  State  Legishiture,  and 
reaching  an  understanding  with  Sir  Jdhn  Harvey,  the  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of  New  Ih'unswick — between  whom  und  himself 
there  had  long  existed  a  warm  personal  friendship — an  arrange- 
ment was  effected  by  wliich  the  Maine  troops  were  withdrawn 
from  the  disputed  lands,  and  peace  restored. 

This  agreement  is  reported  by  Governor  Fairlield,  in  his 
annual  message  of  1840,  as  follows: 

"  Soon  after  the  adoption  of  this  resolution — March  the  twenty- 
third — I  received  tliL-  written  assent  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  tlie  Province  of  New  Brunswick  to  the  following  proposition 
made  to  him  hy  General  Scott,  to  wit : 

"  '  That  it  is  not  the  intention  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  her 
Britannic  Majesty's  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  under  the  expected 
renewal  of  negotiations  between  the  Cabinets  of  London  and  Wash- 
ington on  tlie  said  disputed  territory,  without  renewed  instructions 
to  that  effect  from  his  government,  to  seek  to  take  military  pos- 
session of  that  territory,  or  to  seek,  by  mihtary  force,  to  expel  the 
armed  civil  posse  or  the  troops  of  Maine.' 

"  It  appearing  to  me  that  the  precise  contingency  contemplated 
by  the  LegisUiture,  had  occurred,  I  could  not  hesitate  to  recall  the 
troops." 

Orders  for  the  return  of  the  troops  were  issued  on  the  twenty- 
tifth  of  March,  and  by  the  thirteenth  of  May  the  last  of  them 
were  paid  off  and  mustered  out  of  service  at  Bangor.  And  so 
ended  the  "Aroostook  War,"  after  an  expenditure,  I  think,  of 
something  more  tliau  a  million  dollars  by  the  State,  all  of  which, 
6 


x^-*' 


82 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


it  may  be  said,  was  re-imlKirsed  l>y  the  general  goveriunent.  It 
tested,  at  lepst,  and  not  to  tlieir  discredit,  tlie  patriotism  and 
martial  temper  of  our  people.  If  in  any  way  unsatisfactory  in 
its  results,  it  was  not  tlieir  fault,  l^ut  something.  Governor 
Fairfield  considered,  had  been  accomplished  by  it.     He  said : 

"  The  occurrences  of  last  winter  served  to  awaken  the  attention 
of  the  country  to  the  momentous  importance  of  the  question,  and 
to  induce  such  an  examination  of  it  as  to  result  in  a  strong  and 
universal  conviction  tluit  the  pretence  of  claim  set  up  by  Great 
Britain  to  the  disputed  territory  is  palpably  unfounded  and  unjust, 
and  can  be  jiersevered  in  only  through  an  utter  disregard  of  the 
plain  and  unambiguous  terms  of  tlie  treaty  of  1783." 

Not  long  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops,  a  proposition 
was  snbu'itted  by  the  Ihitish  government  to  the  President  for 
a  commission  of  ex])loration  and  survey,  but  it  was  coupled  with 
such  conditions  that  one  would  think  it  must  have  been  made 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  Ijchig  rejecteil,  with  a  view  to  gain- 
ing time,  and  the  advantages  that  might  be  expected  from  a 
protracted  "  Wardenship  "  of  the  country.  That  time  and  its 
accidents  were  considered,  is  rendered  more  than  probable  by 
the  steps  taken  by  (Jreat  Britain  concurrently  with  the  negotia- 
tion. She  sent  out  a  commission  of  her  own — Messrs.  i\ludge 
and  Featherstonehaugh — to  obtain,  as  she  expressed  it,  tc^o- 
graphical  information.  Failing  in  all  points  as  yet  taken,  or 
imagined,  she  set  herself  to  work  to  discover  if  there  might 
not  be  new  ones  more  tenable  or  more  plausible  than  the  old, 
at  any  rate,  to  gain  time  Nor  was  the  ([uest  a  vain  one  in  her 
estimation,  for  this  remarkable  commission  disco\"f''red  and  re- 
ported that  all  previous  surveys,  reports  and  opinions  were 
erroneous,  and  that  the  true  line,  the  actual  highlands,  were  far 
south,  not  only  of  the  river  St.  Joliii,  but  of  Mars  Hill !  And 
when  it  was  answered  that  this  line  was  not  indicated  by  any 


lit.    It 

sill  and 
jtory  in 
overnor 
said : 

ttention 
ion,  and 
long  and 
y  Great 

I  unjust, 

II  of  the 

])nsition 
ideiit  for 

led  wit!  I 
sen  made 

to  uain- 
id  from  a 
i  and  its 
baljle  by 
I  neo'otia- 
■s.  i\ludge 
.  it,  to\xj- 
taken,  or 
TO  niiglit 
I   the  old, 
)ne  in  her 
d  and  re- 
ions  were 
,,  were  far 
ill !     And 
id  by  any 


THE  xoiitii-eastp:rx  boundary. 


highlands  such  as  were  mentioned  in  the  treaty  as  forming  the 
Itoundary,  they  replied,  in  substance,  that  there  was  every  reason 
to  believe  that  once  tit  ere  vjere  Jw/Jdands  lolvrc  their  line  tvus 
drawn,  vjJiich  in  the  course  of  time — it  in  a//  hare  heen  miUions 
of  //ears — /i"d  heed  ahrodrd  and  vjorn  aican.  This  position  was 
seriously  taken  by  the  British  government,  and  urged  upon  tlie 
United  States.  That  government  would  seem  to  have  believed 
that  no  claim,  no  affront  even,  could  arouse  the  temper  of  the 
American  goverimient :  and  certainly  it  is  not  strange  that  she 
should  have  formed  this  opinion. 

Edward  Kent,  who  had  been  elected  Governor  for  the  second 
time,  addressed  the  Legislature  of  1(8-41,  upon  the  assembling  of 
that  body  in  January.  lief  erring  to  the  boundary  rpiestion,  he 
said : 

"  It  is  universally  conceded  by  every  American,  that  the  treaty 
of  1783,  fairly  interpreted  and  honestly  executed,  would  sustain  all 
our  claim  *  * ;  that  the  ready  obedience  with  which  our  chosen 
soldiery  responded  to  the  call  of  their  commander,  and  the  un- 
shaken zeal  with  which* they  inarched  from  their  comfortable 
homes,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  into  the  interior  forests,  and  the 
firm  determin.ation  which  was  manifested  by  every  man  to  sustain 
the  assertion  of  our  rights,  must  have  satisfied  all  that,  although 
Maine,  for  th'3  sake  of  tlie  peace  and  quiet  of  the  country,  *  * 
might  forbear  to  enforce  her  extreme  rights,  pending  negotiations, 
there  was  yet  a  point  beyond  which  she  would  not  submit  to  en- 
crojKihments  *  * ;  that  she  has  a  right  to  ask,  when  she  has 
yielded  so  much,  that  her  motives  should  be  appreciated,  and  her 
cause  become  the  cause  of  the  whole  countiy.  *  *  'And  that 
the  assumed  line  of  self-styled  geologists,  based  on  imaginary  and 
theoretical  highlands  which  never  had  any  existence  save  in  tlie 
fancies  of  these  men,  was  unworthy  of  respect.' " 

At  this  session  of  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Daveis,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  Senate,  made,  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on 


84 


THE  NCiRTII-EASTEItN  BOUNDARY. 


this  fi'i  •-!'op,  a  coiiiprelieiisive  and  oxliaiistive  report;  and, 
allljungli  a  gentleman  of  extreme  moderation  and  rare  courtesy, 
lie  was  moved,  after  some  remarks  in  reference  to  the  report  of 
Mudge  and  Featherstonehaugh,  to  say  that  the  committee  "  are 
only  restrained  from  speaking  of  it  further  hy  the  respect  tliat 
is  due  to  the  cliannei  througli  wliich  it  conu's,  ratluT  than  to 
the  source  from  which  it  proceeds  ;  from  speakuig — they  mean 
to  say  as  it  deserves — i>f  wliat  otlierwise  might  he  tenned  its 
impudence,  its  audacity  and  its  mendacity  ;  of  its  .so[»]iistries  and 
evasions ;  of  its  assumptions  as  well  as  suppressions ;  of  its 
]irolHgate  perversions,  and  its  presumptions  and  extravagant 
]»retensions." 

If  ever  trilling  and  contemptuousness  can  he  practiced  hy 
one  nation  towards  another  ho  far  as  to  hecome  an  affront, 
which,  by  the  laws  of  honor  and  the  duties  of  self-respect, 
as  they  are  recognized  among  civilized  nations,  would  justify  an 
appeal  to  arms,  the  making,  publishing  and  offering  as  evidence 
of  title  l)y  tlie  British  government,  of  this  impudent  and  insult- 
ing report,  furnislied  justification  for  sf  hundred  declaraiiions  of 
hostilities  such  as  are  settled  only  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Governor  Kent,  in  this  message  of  1841  (.fcirs  to  a  proced- 
ure on  the  part  of  Great  Ih'itain,  which,  it  Either  illustration 
were  needed  of  the  underhanded  and  offensive  manner  which  it 
seems  to  have  been  her  policy  and  her  purpose  to  practice 
towards  this  government,  would  amply  supply  it. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  our  troops  were  withdrawn 
from  the  Aroostook,  hi  March,  1839,  it  was  upon  a  written 
proposition  made  l)y  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Bruns- 
w'.  iv  r^nd  submitted  through  General  Scott  to'  the  Governor  of 
INIaine,  in  which  he  agreed,  among  other  things,  in  the  absence 
of  renewed  instructions  from  Phigland,  not  to  seek  to  talx  mili- 

terriforij.     This  promise  was  i 


''//  posscf^ 


of 


'U' 


?pted 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


85 


;  ftiiJ, 
urtc'sy, 
ijjort  of 
ee  "  are 
ct  that 
,lian  to 
y  mean 
nied  its 
•ies  and 
of  its 
avagant 

iced  by 
affront, 
respect, 
:stify  an 
evidence 
I  insult- 
ifiono  of 

,  proced- 

istration 

which  it 

practice 

thdrawn 
written 
'  lirnns- 
Aernor  of 
!  absence 
ahc  mili- 
:epted  as 


e  ever  ji'iven  ; 


made  in  good  faith.  No  ren-^wed  instracti'jns  wer 
that  would  have  l)een  war.  Thit  the  ditliculty  was  avoided  in 
this  way.  Great  Ih'itain  ([iiietly  transferred  the  jiirisiHctiou  of 
tliis  territory  from  New  IJrunswick  to  Canadti,  and  witlun  a 
few  months  after  tliis  solemn  agreement,  in  the  invi(jlability  of 
which  Maine  and  the  federal  government  fully  confided,  a 
portion  of  the  British  army  was  (quartered  liy  order  of  tlu;  Gov- 
ernor General  of  Canada,  at  Lake  Temiscouata,  within  thi;  limits 
of  this  State. 

I  make  the  following  extract  froin  the  message  of  Governor 
Kent : 

"  Tlio  correspondence  which  has  recently  been  communicated  to 
you  by  my  predecessor,  discloses  another  movement  on  tlie  part  of 
the  British  authorities,  well  calculated  to  arrest  attention  and  call 
forth  indignant  remonstrance  on  the  part  of  Maine  and  the  Union. 
If  I  am  correctly  informed,  in  a  very  short  time  after  the  conclusion 
of  the  agreement  by  which  it  was,  in  effect,  stipulated  that  the 
British  authorities  should  not  take  military  possession  of  what  is 
termed  by  them  '  the  disputed  territory,'  and  during  the  existence 
of  that  arrangement,  a  detachment  of  Her  Majesty's  troops  was 
stationed  at  Temiscouata  Lake,  witlun  that  territory,  and  has  been 
continued  there  ever  since.  And  we  are  now  informed  that 
another  detachment  has  been  moved  to  and  stationed  at  the 
Madawaska  settlement,  for  the  pur[)ose  of  sustaining  the  jurisdic- 
tion and  supporting  the  exercise  of  authority  on  the  part  o.  the 
British  magistrates." 

In  1842,  Governor  Fairfield  was  again  in  office.  John  Tyler 
was  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Daniel  Wv'bster  was 
Secretary  of  State. 

In  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature,  the  Governor  said 
that  the  State  had  "good  grounds  to  believe  a  fair  and  reason- 
able proposititjn  on  the  part  of  our  government,  with  a  view  to 


86 


THE  NORTH-EASTETIN  BOUNDAEY. 


a  final  and  amicable  settlement  of  tlie  question,  lias  remained 
another  year  nnauswered,  if  not  luinoticf.d"  He  thouji'lit  there 
was  no  room  for  doubt  or  hesitancy  as  to  the  course  wlii(di 
tlie  general  government  ouglit  to  pursue.  He  observed  tliat 
"  nitional  honor,  as  well  as  justice  to  ]\Iaine,  clearly  indicate 
it — and  that  is,  to  purge  the  soil  of  tliis  State  eilectually,  and 
witliout  delay,  of  every  vestige  (jf  Ih'itisli  encroachment ;  and 
then,  if  there  is  to  lie  further  negotiation  upon  this  subject,  let 
it  ])e  on  the  part  of  Great  Ih'itain  to  oltuiii  what  for  more  than 
■*  a  quarter  of  a  century  she  has  refused  to  yield.  When  a 
reasonable  expectation  can  no  longer  l)e  entertahied  that  the 
general  government  wdl  adopt  this,  or  some  equally  efficacious 
course,  if  Mahie  is  true  to  herself,  she  will  take  possession  of 
the  wh.'ile  territory,  and,  if  need  l)e,  use  all  the  means  which 
God  and  nature  have  placed  in  her  hands  to  maintain  it." 

referring  to  the  exploration  and  survey  which  the  general 
government  had  at  last  undertaken,  and  whicl^  '^vere  understood 
to  have  been  nearly  completed,  he  remarked  that  it  was 
believed  that  it  would  "  add  a  confirmation  of  our  title  which 
nu  ingenuity  could  avoid  or  effrontery  deny." 

On  the  seventeenth  of  Tanuary,  resolutions  were  passed  in- 
structing our  Senators  to  call  on  the  President  for  information 
as  to  the  state  of  negotiations,  to  which  j\Ir.  Webster  replied 
that  no  corrcs'pondGnre  had  tahen  place  ivliich,  in  his  judgment, 
could  he  made  pv.hli"  icithout  'prejudice  to  the  public  interest. 

A  joint-select  •'oimnitLce,  of  which  Hon.  Edward  Kavanagh 
was  chairman,  made  a  repuri  on  the  seventh  of  March,  in  whicli 
liberal  extracts  from  the  G<i pernor's  message  were  copied,  in- 
cluding those  given  herein,  ail  of  which  received  the  full  ap- 
proval of  the  committee  arid  of  the  Legislature.  But  in  considera- 
tion that  it  \^  i'o  understood  a  special  minister  had  been  appointed 
by  Great  Britain,  to  visit  Wasliington,  with  full  power  to  con- 


THE  NORTII-EASTEllN  BOUNDARY. 


87 


si(l(Ar  and  adjust  all  questions  in  controversy,  it  was  not  deemed 
ex]>edient  at  that  time  to  do  more  than  re-state  the  position  of 
Maine ;  in  doing  which  the  committee  took  care  to  say  tliat 
"  Maine,  throu.Ljli  her  Le<;islature,  lias  uniformly  protested  a<fainst 
an  arl  titration  ;  and  we  hazard  nothinj^f  in  sayinj^'  that  the  people 
of  this  State  will  never  consent  that  the  inheritance  derived 
from  their  ancestor,:  be  committed  to  such  a  hazard,"  , 

On  the  eleventh  of  xivail,  Mr.  Webster  wrote  (xovernor  F.'iir- 
field  that  Lord  Ashburton,  a  Minister  Plenipotentiary  and 
Special,  had  arrived  at  Washhi-itoii,  witli  full  powers  to  nt\i''oti- 
ate  and  settle  the  different  matters  in  discussion  between  tlie 
two  governments ;  "  tliat  in  regard  to  the  boundary  questifjn  he 
had  authority  to  treat  for  a  conventional  line,  or  line  by  agree- 
ment, on  such  terms  and  conditions,  and  with  sucli  mutual 
considerations  and  equivalents,  as  may  l)e  thought  just  and 
equital  )le."  He  referred  the  Governor  to  the  great  losses  of  Maine 
in  the  Aroostook  War,  and  to  the  fact  that  the  United  States 
had  already  paid  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  tcjwards  an  ex- 
ploration ;  and,  in  contempt  of  the  declaration  of  Mr.  Kavanagh's 
committee,  that  Maine  would  never  give  her  consent  thereto, 
told  liim  that  if  the  case  were  not  settled  now  it  would  go  to 
another  arbitration  !  He  then  proposed  that  Maine  and  Massa- 
chusetts should  appoint  Commissioners,  with  authority  to  g'v^ 
the  assent  of  those  States  to  such  a  settlement  as  he  and  the 
British  Plenipotentiary  might  agree  upon ;  and,  to  this  end, 
that  the  Governor  should  convene  the  Legislature  in  special 
session,  without  unnecessary  delay. 

In  accordance  with  this  request,  the  Legislature  was  convened 
by  the  Governor,  at  Augusta,  on  t\w.  eighteenth  day  of  May,  1842. 

When  the  Legislature  came  together,  they  were  informed  hy 
the  Governor  that  "  the  British  government  is  now  prepared  to 


pvopose 


* 


* 


what  may  be  thouglit  to  l)e  a  just  and 


88 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


equifah/r  equivalent  for  a  portion  of  that  which  shu  has  huruto- 
foru  claimed  as  her  own."  lie  denounced  any  agreement  for 
dividing  the  territory  whicli  did  not  alibrd  an  e(juivalent  for  the 
part  that  should  be  ceded  to  Grreat  Britain. 

The  ([uestion  was  debated  with  much  spirit  for  several  days. 
Hon.  l*eleg  Sprague,  of  Boston,  Judge  of  the  United  States 
District  Court,  formerly  a  Senator  in  Congress  from  Maine, 
visited  Augusta  as  the  representative  of  IVIr.  Webster,  and  had 
prolonged  conferences  with  members  of  the  Legislature,  urging 
the  aii])ointment  of  Commissioners,  with  liberal  powers;  and 
Mr.  .Tared  Sparks,  the  lustorian,  was  mentioned,  confidentially, 
by  the  knowing  ones,  as  being  at  the  Capitid  and  holding  pri- 
vate interviews  with  certain  members  of  the  Legislature.  Hon. 
Albert  Smith,  a  former  meml)er  of  Congress  from  this  State,  a 
gentleman  of  large  inlluence,  alike  from  his  disthiguished  ability 
and  his  rare  and  genial  humor,  was  also  in  attendance  as  an 
organ  of  the  State  Department.  Measures  for  the  i)reparati(m 
of  public  opinion  for  a  conventional  line  were  set  on  foot. 
Leading  newspapers — religious  as  well  as  political — were  in 
possession  of  new  '".-dit  and  unwonted  zeal  upon  this  subject,  to 
the  extent,  in  some  cases,  of  being  able  to  see  things  that  had  been 
wholly  obscured  before — and  the  secret  service  fund  of  the  Stc^^e 
Department  suffered  a  shrinkage,  the  details  of  which,  if  I  remem- 
ber aright,  Mr.  Charles  Jared  Ingersoll,  with  all  his  pains,  was 
never  able  to  obtain. 

With  all  this  efibrt,  and  notwithstanding  the  proposition  was 
only  for  the  appointment  of  Commissioners  who,  it  was  sup- 
posed, would  make  equivalents  in  kind  as  the  conditions  of  any 
convention  they  might  assent  to,  there  was  a  res|)ectal)le 
minority  of  the  Legislature,  who  were  hifiexibly  o]j])osod  to  the 
appointment  of  Connnissioners,  upon  any  conditions.  Some  of 
them  believed  that  the  State  had  no  rightful  power  to  sell  or 


TIIK  NOKTII-EASTEHN  noUNDAUY. 


80 


transfer,  fni' a  coiisulcrtition,  uiiy  of  its  citi/ons.  Mr.  Williimi 
Frye,  of  liuthel,  a  iiiLniibor  of  tlio  committue  to  vvliirli  tlic  suliject 
had  boeii  coiniiiittud,  iiiiulo  a  minority  re]tort  in  iiiniiitcMiince  of 
this  positii)!! ;  and  I  tiiink  tliere  was  not  a  nu'iulicr  of  either 
house  who  liad  a  thought  or  hiar  that  any  convention  would  he 
entered  into,  under  which,  if  the  State  surrendered  land  which 
was  hers  Ijy  the  treaty  of  17.SH,  she  would  not  receive  territory 
in  return,  which  was  acknowled^tnl  to  iH'lonL,^  to  N^ew  liruns- 
wick.  Fnuii  the  o[)portunity  which  I  had  of  knowing;  the 
feeliuL;'  and  expectation  of  nienil)ers — havin^^' niyseU'  hi-eii  one  of 
them — r  believe  I  take  no  risk  in  sayinj^-  that  if  it  had  l)eeu 
understood  that  any  line  would  he  agreed  upon  that  should  not 
give  to  Maine  some  j)(ntion  of  the  acknowledged  territory  of 
New  lU'unswiek,  hi  exchange  for  what  the  latter  should  receive 
from  Maine,  the  commission  would  never  have  been  constituted. 
I  do  not  believ^e  it  would  have  received  ten  votes  in  both  houses. 
Indeed,  one  of  the  resolutions  carried  this  idea,  and  it  was 
supposed  that  it  would  be  regarded  as  conveying  an  implied 
instruction,  at  least.     It  read  as  follows : 

"Hesolved,  That  this  State  cannot  regard  the  relinquishment,  by 
the  Pn'itish  government,  of  any  claim  heretofore  advanced  ])y  it  to 
territory  included  within  the  limits  of  the  line  of  this  State,  as 
designated  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  and  uniformly  claimed  by  Elaine, 
as  a  consideration  or  equiviileut,  within  the  meaning  of  these  reso- 
lutions." 

Four  Commissioners — two  from  each  political  party — were 
appointed  by  the  Legislature.  William  Pitt  Prel»le  and  l-'dward 
Kavanngh  represented  the  Democrats;  Edward  Kent  and  John 
Otis  the  Whigs.  They  proceeded  without  delay  to  Washington, 
and  were  there  joined  by  Abbot  Lawrence,  John  ]\Iills  and 
Charles  Allen,  Commissioners  from  Massachusetts. 

The  assent  of  Maine  to  the  treaty,  which  was  literally  wrung 


00 


THE  NOKTII-KA.STV.KN  llOl'NDAKY. 


t'roiii  Ik'I'  ( 'oiiiinissiouers,  was  jL^nveii  on  tlic  Uvciity-secoiul  of  -Inly, 
1(S42.  MuHSiicliusetts  had  trivcMi  Iitjrs  two  diiys  before.  One 
needs  luit  to  read  tlie  pajun-  in  wliicli  tliat  of  Alaiiie  vvas  con- 
veyed, or  the  re])ort  of  the  Conuiiissioncrs  to  the  Governor,  to 
discover  that  it  vvas  only  tliroiij^di  moral  duress  of  the  repriisent- 
atives  (tf  Maine  that  tiie  dociniient  was  olitained.  The;  ^n-ief 
and  the  shame  of  it  were  expressed  hi  words  which  cannot  be 
misunderstood. 

The  Commissioners  said : 

"Coiisi(l(;ring,  tlion,  this  proposition  as  involvinfr  the  surrender 
of  more  territory  tliaii  the  avowed  objects  of  Eiigliind  require,  as 
removing  our  landmarks  from  the  well-known  and  well-defined 
boundary  of  the  treaty  of  1783,  the  crest  of  the  highlands,  besides 
insisting  upon  the  line  of  th(>  arbiter  in  its  full  extent,  wo  feel 
bound  to  siiy,  after  the  most  careful  and  anxious  consideration,  that 
we  cannot  bring  our  minds  to  the  conviction  that  the  proposal  is 
such  as  Maine  had  a  right  to  expect. 

"But  we  are  not  unaware  of  the  expectations  which  have  been 
and  still  are  entertained  of  a  favorable  issue  to  this  negotiation  by 
the  government  and  people  of  this  country,  and  the  great  disap- 
pointment which  would  be  felt  and  expressed  at  its  failure.  Nor 
are  we  unmindful  of  the  future,  warned  as  we  have  been  by  the 
past,  that  any  attempts  to  determine  the  line  by  arbitration  may 
be  either  fruitless,  or  with  a  result  more  to  be  deplored." 

And  so  they  consent  to  say  that  if  the  judgment  of  the  nation 
shall  demand  the  sacrifice,  and  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
shall  advise  and  consent  to  it,  their  assent  will  not  be  withheld, 
although  it  will  involve  "  a  surrender  of  a  portion  of  the  birth- 
right of  the  ])eople  of  their  State,  and  prized  by  them  because 
it  is  their  birthright." 

The  fact  is,  j\Ir.  Webster  was  determined  that  the  question 
should  be  settled  at  all  events.     He  reasoned,  he  implored,  he 


TIIK  NOHTH-EASTKUN  HOUNDAUV. 


01 


.f  July, 

.      One 

ilS    coii- 

'iiior,  t(» 

ic   yriuf 
iiuot  be 


uToiuler 
pi  ire,  iis 
-defined 
,  I  (OS ides 
,  we  feel 
ion,  that 
o[»osal  is 

ave  been 
iation  by 
at  disap- 
e.  Nor 
n  by  the 
:ion  may 

u  nation 
d  States 
withheld, 
le  birth- 
bucause 

question 
ored,  he 


thr"at(',n('(l.  Ho  had  coniiccted  tJiis  (|uosti()n  with  (ttlicrs — 
qiU!sti()ns  which  W((ri' iiid, mm!  well  scitlcd  by  tiie  ti-rnis  of  tiio 
trt!iity,  mid  which  tlic  wliolc  coiiiitry  wms  anxious  to  sec;  settled 
— iind  thus  had  brouwlit  all  these  inteivsts  and  intlucnccvs  to 
lirar  on  the  Maine  ( 'onnnissioners.  New  York  was  to  ;^ret 
lJous(''s  Point;  there  was  the  ('ai'ojine  case;  tht;  Crcol.'  case; 
and  tile  ri,i;iit  of  search  ;  tiie  sui>i>ivssion  of  tlie  slave  trade  on 
tlie  coast  of  Africa — iini)ortant  matters,  all,  and  all  virtually 
and  wisely  adjusttMl  l)y  the  treaty  or  by  the  correspondence 
and  informal  nei^'otiations  at  the  time.  It  was  like  the  casi^of 
makin^f  a  oeneral  appro[)riation  bill  carry  an  obnoxious  measure. 
All  tliese  inthiences  were  brou;^dit  into  consjiiracy  a<;ainst  our 
Commissioners.  The  business  inte4'i!sts  of  the  country  iiwjded 
the  assurance  that  there  were  to  be  no  disturbances,  no  war — 
an  almost  solid  South  deniiuided  that  the  (|uestion  should  be 
put  at  rest.  For  one,  althouj^di  I  have  never  ceased  to  regret 
that  the  Commissioners  yielded,  I  have  not  had  it  in  my  heart 
to  find  fault  with  them,  knowhij^s  not  only  from  the  pu])lic 
history  of  the  affair,  but  also  from  many  conversations  with  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Commission,  the  straits  into  which 
they  were  thrown  and  the  force  and  character  of  the  demands 
that  were  made  upon  them. 

In  their  letter  to  the  Governor  of  Maine,  in  which  they 
reported  their  d(nnos  as  Commissioners,  they  complain  that  they, 
as  well  as  the  Legislature  and  ]ieo))le  of  the  State,  had  been 
misled  by  the  assurances  which  had  been  given  in  respect  to 
the  extent  of  the  power  hitrusted  to  the  British  PlenipoUnitiary, 
"  Instead,"  they  say,  "  of  being  clothed  with  full  power  to  nego- 
tiate a  mutual  exchange  of  contiguous  territory  for  the  purpose 
of  removina;  the  acknowledged  inconveniences  resulting  from 
the  treaty  line  of  demarcation,  we  soon  learned  that  he  had  no 
authority  to  concede  a  single  acre  of  British  territory  adjoining 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT.3) 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  I4S80 

(716)  872-4503 


^v 


^ 


I/. 


%' 


n 


THE  NORTH-EASTEUN  BOUNDARY. 


]\I;une — nay,  not  even  the  smallest  of  her  islands  in  Passama- 


(|ll( 


)(ltly  Bay. 


Notliin<'  is  more  certain  than  this — that  if  the  Governor 
had  understood  that  the  assurances  made  to  him  in  the  letter 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  were  unauthorized  by  anythhig  in  the 
instructions  to  the  Minister,  there  would  have  been  no  special 
session  of  the  Legislature.  Tliat  this  was  the  opinion  of  the 
Commissioners  is  manifest  from  their  report.  "  The  views 
of  the  Legislature,"  they  say,  "  so  repeatedly  expressed,  were 
opppsed  to  any  assent  on  the  part  of  its  agents,"  to  a  ratification 
of  the  line  of  the  King  of  Holland.  Yet  the  line  of  1842  was 
less  favorable  to  Maine  tlian  that.  The  pressure  was  such, 
however,  that  the  consent  of  the  State  was  finally  given,  on  the 
condition,  as  the  Commissioners  inform  the  Governor,  "  that  in 
the  o]>iuion  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  Maine  ought, 
under  existing  circumstances,  to  assent  to  so  great  a  sacrifice  of 
her  just  claims  for  the  peace  and  harmony  and  general  welfare 
of  the  Union." 

The  ratification  of  the  treaty  was  vigorously  opposed  in  the 
Senate  by  Mr. Williams,  of  this  State,  Col.  Benton,  Mr.  Buchanan, 
and  others.  Mr.  Woodbury,  of  Xew  Hampshire,  criti'^ised  its 
provisions  with  much  severity,  but  intimated  that,  since  Maine 
had  given  her  consent,  he  might  not  witlihold  his  vote. 

Col.  lienton's  speech  occupied  several  hours,  in  which  he 
showed  up,  with  a  thortuighness  tint  was  as  complete  as  it  was 
merciless,  its  imperfections  and  inconsistencies,  and  incompat- 
ibility witli  the  interests  and  honor  of  the  nation.  He  spoke 
of  Maine  as  having  been  "victimized"  and  betrayed.  "And 
this,"  says  he,  "  is  her  consent !  Pressed  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  pressed  by  the  American  negotiator — men- 
aced— abandoned  by  her  mother  State — isolated  from  other 
States — presented  as  sole  obstacle  to  the  general  peace — warned 


THE  NORTII-EASTEKN  BOUNDARY. 


93 


that  it  was  the  last  cliance ;  thus  situated,  tliis  devoted  State  so 
far  subdues  herself  as  to  say,  throuj^h  lier  Coininissiouers,  that 
she  submits  to  the  sacrifice  if,  upon  mature  cousider.itioii,  tlie 
Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  ajjprove  it."  He  said  that 
we  surrendered  our  old  natural  mountain  Ixjundary,  the  crest  of 
the  highlauds,  to  which  we  had  clung  with  a  religious  perti- 
nacity from  the  beginning,  and  witli  it  a  strip  of  country  one 
hundred  and  ten  miles  long,  containing  eight  hundred  and 
ninety-three  square  miles,  beyond  and  above  what  was  assigned 
to  Great  Britain  by  the  King  of  Holland,  and  gave  her  the  line 
she  had  contrived  for  the  purpose  of  weakening  our  boundary 
and  retirnig  it  farther  from  Quebec. 

Mr.  Buchanan  argued  the  question  in  detail  and  at  great 
length.     He  said : 

"  I  have  earnestly  endeavored  to  keep  my  mind  open  to  convic- 
tion until  the  last  moment ;  but  after  all  I  cannot  vote  for  this 
treaty  without  feeling  that  I  hud  violated  my  duty  to  the  country, 
and  without  forfeiting  my  own  self-respect.  In  the  empluitic  lan- 
guage of  the  Senator  from  Maine  (Mr.  Williams)  I  believe  it  to  be 
a  treaty  unjust  to  Maine,  and  dishonorable  to  the  whole  country ; 
and  thus  believing,  if  it  depended  upon  my  vote,  it  should  be  re- 
jected without  regard  to  consequences." 

He  said  he  concurred  with  the  opinion  formerly  expressed  by 
Mr.  Wel)ster,  that  the  claim  of  the  British  government  "  does 
not  amount  to  the  dignity  of  a  del)atable  quvstion."  He  de- 
nounced Mr.  AVebster,  as  Col.  Benton  had  done,  in  terms  of 
reproach,  which  would  have  had  greater  effect  had  they  been 
less  sweeping  and  had  they  not  indicated  that  personal  feeling 
may  have  had  something  to  do  with  barbing  them.  "That 
man,"  he  exclaimed,  "  of  gigantic  intellect,  whose  great  powers 
ought  to  have  been  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  save  Maine  from  dis- 


Tir  1  T  ' 


84 


THE  X011T1[-EA.STERN  BOUxVDARY. 


I  ^i 


jM^ 

a^l 


niemberment,  vmi  the  very  man  wlio  urged  tlicm  (the  Coni- 
inissioiiers)  to  consent  to  tlie  disniemlternient." 

But  the  speech  wliich,  perhaps,  of  all  the  speeches  that  were 
made,  best  reflected  the  attitude  and  feelings  of  Maine,  was  by 
her  own  Senator,  Hon.  Ileuel  Williams ;  it  was  dispassionate, 
clear  and  dignified,  but  earnest  and  strong.  While  avoiding  the 
language  of  vituperation,  it  did  not  concetil  the  impression 
that  Maine  had  been  misled  into  a  position  to  which  no  power 
could  liave  brought  her  with  her  eyes  open  and  her  hands  free  ; 
nor  did  it  repress  an  expression  of  regret  that  the  Commission- 
ers, when  they  found,  in  direct  c(jnilict  with  their  understand- 
ing of  the  facts,  and  that  of  the  Legislature,  that  the  British 
Minister  had  not  full  powers,  had,  indeed,  no  authority  to  cede 
an  acre  of  r)ritish  soil  for  any  consideration  whatever — and 
when  limitations  had  been  withheld  from  them,  expressly  on 
the  ground  that  none  were  imposed  on  Lord  Ashl)urton,  and 
therefore  that  both  sides  should  come  together  on  the  same 
footing — did  not  return  at  once,  instead  of  remaining  at  Wash- 
ington to  transfer  the  interest  and  the  honor  of  the  State  from 
their  own  hands  into  the  sole  keeping  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.     Mr.  Williams  said  : 

"  I  would  go  far,  very  far,  to  compromise  this  dispute  upoa 
honorable  terms,  and  I  would  not  be  particular  as  to  the  value  of 
equivalents.  But  I  hold  tliat  Great  Britain  has  contiguous  terri- 
tory, convenient  to  us,  whicli  she  might  and  ought  to  give  in 
exchange  for  the  territory  belonging  to  us  which  she  so  mucri 
needs,  and  ought  to  have  for  a  just  equivalent.  This  treaty  does 
not  accomplish  fairly  either  object ;  it  gives  to  Great  Britain  more 
than  is  necessary,  and  withholds  from  Maine  what  she  ought  to 
acquire."  ' 

In  closing,  he  said : 

"I  cannot  agree  to  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty.     It  is 


the  Cuiii- 

liat  were 
i.  was  by 
issioiiate, 
idiii.U  the 
ipression 
10  power 
lids  free ; 
mission- 
lerstand- 
!  British 
to  cede 
er — and 
3ssly  on 
ton,  and 
le  same 
b  Wasli- 
te  from 
:  of  the 

te  upon 
vahie  of 
IS  terri- 
give  in 
0  niucli 
ty  does 
n  more 
uglit  to 


It  is 


THE  NORTH-EASTEI*;  BOUNDARY. 


95 


unjust  to  Maine,  and,  in  my  judgment,  dishonorable  to  the  nation. 
I  do  not  desire  another  arbitration,  wliich  may  be  more  ruinous  to 
Maine  than  tlie  present  arrangement.  I  have  no  coniidence  in 
further  negotiation.  What  we  have  hiid  has  greatly  weaktMied  our 
once  perfect  title  ;  and  I  see  no  other  waj'  of  getting  our  right  as 
a  nation  and  performing  our  high  obligation  to  one  of  tin-  )States 
of  the  Union,  than  by  taking  possession  of  what  belongs  to  us  and 
holding  it.  In  such  a  course  we  will  have  right  and  justice  on  our 
side.  If  others  interfere  with  us,  it  must  be  in  their  own  wrong. 
With  these  views,  I  send  to  the  Chair  the  following  resolution, 
and  ask  the  j'eas  and  nays  upon  its  adoption : 

^^Ilesohiedf  That  the  treaty  and  documents  now  under  considera- 
tion be  re-committed  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  with 
instructions  to  report  a  resolution  directing  the  President  of  the 
United  Staters  to  take  immediate  [)Ossession  of  the  disputed  terri- 
tory, and  to  report  such  contingent  measures  as,  in  their  opinion, 
may  be  necessary  to  maintain  the  just  right  of  the  nation." 

The  resohition  was  not  adopted. 

Wlien  the  treaty  was  before  the  '•'enate,  similar  tactics  to 
those  which  liad  been  used  in  extracting  the  consent  of  the 
State  of  Maine  to  its  provisions  were  employed.  Mr.  Jared 
Sparks,  when  hi  Paris,  some  time  before  the  negotiation,  had 
found  in  the  archives  of  the  French  governnieiit  an  old  map, 
with  a  red  line,  of  this  part  of  the  country,  a  copy  of  which  was 
furnished  by  him  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  by  the  latter 
communicated  to  the  Senaic-  in  executive  session,  with  a  flourish 
of  trumpets,  sounding  not  victory,  but  defeat,  to  the  claims  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  State  of  Maine.  The  hist(uy  of 
tlie  discovery  of  this  map  is  t(jld  by  Mr.  S[tarks  in  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Webster,  from  which  I  C(jpy : 

"Wliile  pursuing  my  researches  among  the  voluminous  papers 
relating  to  the  American  JJevolution  in  the  Archives  des  Affaires 


96 


THE  NOllTH-EASTEUN  BOUNDAllY. 


Etrangers  in  I'aris,  I  found  in  ono  of  the  bound  volumes  an  orig- 
inal icth  1  ''roin  Dr.  Franklin  to  Count  D'Vergonnes,  of  which  the 
followiiij  is  an  exact  transcript: 

"'Passy,  Dec.  6,  1782. 
"'Sir;t — T  have  the  honor  of  returning  herewith  the  n>a[)  3'our 
Exceih'nc}'  sent  me  yesterday.  I  have  marked  with  a  strong  red 
line,  accor<ling  to  your  desire,  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  as 
settled  in  the  preliminaries  between  the  British  and  American 
plenipotentiaries. 

"  With  great  respect,  I  am,  &c.,  -0 

"'B.  Franklin.' 

"This  letter  was  written  six  days  after  the  preliminaries  were 
^:!:▼ned;  and  if  we  could  prociTre  the  identical  map  mentioned  by 
Franklin,  it  would  stem  to  afford  conclusive  evidence  as  to  the 
meaning  affixed  by  the  Commissioners  to  the  language  of  the 
treaty  on  the  subject  of  the  boundary.  You  may  well  suppose  that 
I  lost  no  time  in  making  enquiry  for  the  map,  not  doubting  that  it 
would  conlirm  all  my  previous  opinions  respecting  the  validity  of 
our  claims.  In  the  geographi<^al  department  of  the  archives  are 
sixty  thousand  maps  and  charts,  but  so  well  arranged  \vith  cata- 
logues nud  iuduxes  that  any  one  of  them  may  be  easily  found. 
After  a  little  research  in  the  Amnricau  division,  1  came  upon  a  luap 
of  North  America,  by  D'Anville,  dated  1746,  in  size  about  cifjhteen 
inches  square,  on  wliicli  was  drawn  a  strong  red  lint;  throngliout 
the  entire  boundary  of  the  United  States,  answering  precisely  to 
Franklin's  description.  "'  '  iiuagiue  my  .s\ii-prise  ou  discover- 
ing that  this  line  runs  wboll3f  south  of  the  St.  John,  and  between 
the  head  waters  of  that  river  uud  those  of  the  Penobscot  and  Ken- 
nebec. In  short,  it  is  exactly  the  line  now  conten<led  for  by  Great 
liritain,  except  that  it  concedes  mor(^  than  is  claim. -d.  *  *  There 
is  no  positive  proof  that  thjs  map'  is  actually  the  one  marked  by 
Franklin  ;  yet,  upon  any  other  supposition,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
explain  die  circumstances  of  its  agreeing  so  perfectly  with  his 


y 


THE  NORTH-EASTETIN  BOUNDARY. 


97 


s  an  orig- 
nhicli  the 


;,  1782. 
•11:4)  your 
trong  red 
States,  as 
Ameriean 


fKLIN.' 

ries  were 
ioned  by 
IS  to  the 
e  of  the 
pose  til  at 
ig  that  it 
ilidity  of 
lives  are 
ith  cata- 
y  found. 
)U  a  map 
citjfliteen 

•"UgllOUt 

cisely  to 
lisoovor- 
betvveen 
nd  Keii- 
>y  Great 
There 
iked  by 
ficult  to 
^ith  his 


description,  and  of  its  being  preserved  in  the  phice  where  it  would 
naturally  be  deposited  by  the  Count  D'  Vergennes." 

Mr.  Rives,  of  Virginia,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Relations,  and  I  think  its  Chairman,  intro- 
duced in  the  Senate  this  letter  and  the  map  which  accompanied 
it — a  copy  of  the  orighial  in  the  French  archives,  and  which 
Mr.  Sparks  had  marked  with  a  black  line — with  these  remarks  : 

"Is  there  no  danger,  in  the  event  of  another  arbitration,  that  a 
further  research  into  the  public  archives  of  Europe  might  bring  to 
light  some  embarrassing  (even  though  apochryphal)  document  to 
throw  a  new  shade  of  plausible  doubt  over  the  clearness  of  our  tftle 
in  the  view  of  a  sovereign  arbiter  ?  Such  a  document  has  already 
been  communicated  to  the  committee^nd  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty 
to  lay  it  before  the  Senate,  that  they  may  fully  appreciate  its 
bearings  and  determine  for  themselves  the  weight  and  importance 
which  belong  to  it." 

He  adds,  that  it  is  due  to  Mr.  Sparks,  that  an  account  of  it  in 
his  own  words,  in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State  be  given. 
Mr.  Sparks'  letter  was  then  read. 

Here,  then,  was  a  brand  new  discovery,  which  one  can  scarcely 
conceive  of  as  not  fatal  to  our  claim,  if  Mr.  Sparks'  inferences 
are  to  be  relied  upon,  concealed  from  the  other  side,  and  sud- 
denly sprung  upon  the  Senate  in  secret  session,  to  intluence  its 
action,  and  which,  it  may  have  well  been  supposed,  would  place 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of 
our  Senator,  Mr.  Reuel  Williams,  Col.  Benton  and  others,  be- 
yond much  doubt.  The  treaty  was  indeed  ratified,  but  not 
until  the  utter  worthlessness  of  this  evidence  had  been  exposed 
by  Col.  Benton,  Mr.  Buchanan  and  Mr.  Woodbury.  This  red- 
line  map  turned  out  to  be  no  other  than  one  of  many  red-line 
maps  of  1746,  one  of  which,  from  Mr.  Jeft'erson's  collection,  had 
long  been  in  the  library  of  Congress,  and  had  nothing  whatever 


r- 

! 

'. 

w^ 

) 

98 


THE  NORTll-EASrERN  BOUND ABT. 


m 
.'.1  ■ 

■,;,i  ^  I 


H.     i  ■  i, 


mi 

m ; 


to  tlo  with  tlie  map  used  by  the  Commissioners,  or  with  thfit 
sent  to  tlie  Count  D'Vergenne.s.  ^ 

The  question  was  brought  up  at  the  next  session,  also,  when 
Col.  Benton  said  (See  Globe  and  Appendix  for  1842-o,  Vol.  12, 
p.  Ill):  "  When  he  saw  that  the  Senator  from  Yirghiia  was 
yet  in  the  act  of  pressing  the  importance  of  the  map  referred  to 
by  Mr.  Sparks,  he  interrupted  the  Senator  by  calling, '  Here  is 
the  very  same  red  line  on  Mr.  Jefi'erson's  map,'  and  on  compari- 
son it  was  toiiiid  Lo '(MiL'spond  exactly.  He  proclaimed  the 
red  line  loudly  to  prove  that  Mr.  Sparks'  secret  was  no  secret  at 
all." 

This  speech  by  Col.  Benton  was  made  on  the  fourth  of 
January,  1843.  Mr.  Riv||'  speech,  before  quoted  from,  had 
just  been  published,  the  injunction  of  secrecy  having  been  re- 
moved from  the  proceedings.  Col.  Benton  took  this  occasion  to 
correct  some  errors,  as  he  considered  them,  in  this  speech.  On 
the  next  day  the  question  was  brought  up  again,  when  Col. 
Benton  said  "  there  was  not  one  particle  of  evidence  to  be  ad- 
duced from  the  circumstance  that  the  map,  found  by  Mr.  Sparks, 
in  Paris,  had  a  broad,  strong  red  line  indicating  some  boundary 
of  Canada,  was  marked  by  Dr.  Franklin ;  because  every  French 
map  of  the  day  had  the  same  red  line  on  it." 

The  fact  seems  Jo  have  been  that  this  old  Frencli  map,  made 
nearly  forty  years  before  the  treaty  of  1783,  indicated  merely  a 
French  claim  of  boundary  by  just  such  a  red  line  as  was  at  that 
time  commonly  used.  Besides,  the  fact  that  in  1794,  wIimi 
the  subject  was  before  the  Cc^jumissioners,  no  such  map  or  evi- 
dence of  boundary  was  referred  to,  should  have  convinced  Mr. 
Sparks  that  his  version  was  not  only  untenable  but  preposterous. 
But  the  testimony,  showing  the  utter  failure,  so  far  as  the 
evidence  was  concerned,  of  this  attempt  to  influence  the  Senate 
in  favor  of  the  treaty,  was  not  permitted  to  be  closed  here.     On 


with  that 


ilso,  when 
'5,  Vol.  12, 
giiiia  was 
'eferred  to 
,  *  Here  is 
I  compari- 
dmed  the 
J  secret  at 


fourth  of 
:rom,  had 
been  re- 
ccasion  to 
jech.  On 
v^hen  Col. 
jO  be  ad- 
f.  Sparks, 
boundary 
ry  French 

lap,  made 
merely  a 
as  at  that 
94,  wh'.ii 
ip  or  evi- 
nced Mr. 
posterous. 
ir  as  the 
he  Senate 
lere.    On 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


99 


the  eighteenth  of  January,  Col.  lieuton  again  Ijrought  tlie  sub- 
ject before  the  Senate,  when  lie  produced  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Franklin,  (the  same  already  copied  in  this  paper),  dated  the 
eiglith  of  April,  1790, — and  the  last  letter  ever  written  by  him 
— in  which  he  says  tliat  the  7nap  itfed  in  traciny  the  houndarf/ 
ivas  hrouyht  to  the  treaty  by  the  Commissioners  from  Etiylaml, 
and  that  it  was  the  same  that  rms  jmblished  by  Mitchell  tiveuhf 
years  before,  and  further,  that  the  AmerictUi  Commission' ;r5  in- 
formed Congress  of  the  fact  at  the  time. 

These  revelations  exploded  and  scattered,  one  would  ha  v.' 
hoped,  forever,  this  wretched  red-line  map  performance.  But 
this  was  not  to  be ;  and  years  afterwards  its  echoes  came  to  us 
from  across  the  Atlantic.  When,  in  1861,  the  loyal  country 
was  engaged  in  an  effort  to  preserve  the  nation,  it  received,  a^ 
will  be  remembered,  but  small  sympathy  from  the  higher  classei? 
in  England,  who  were  eager  enough  to  find  grounds  of  indict- 
ment against  the  United  States,  and  excuses  for  their  own 
unfriendly  feeUngs  and  actions.  And  among  other  explanation^ 
and  excuses,  they  turned  to  this  red-line  map,  took  it  up  and 
threw  it  at  us.  The  newspapers  used  it,  the  clubs  talked  about 
it,  and  one  of  die  leading  Quarterly  Eeviews,  in  an  elaborate 
argument  defending  England's  attitude  of  unfriendliness  towards 
this  country,  referred,  in  justitio  tion,  to  the  red-line  map,  its 
discovery,  its  concealment,  its  use  in  secret  session  of  the 
Senate,  a.id  its  exposition  only  after  the  treaty  had  been  ratified, 
when  the  fraud  had  done  its  work  too  completely  to  be  made  in- 
effectual. This  wa"  not  pleasant  reading  to  us  at  that  time, 
however  groundless  we  knew  the  accusations  to  be ;  for  we 
knew,  also,  that  those  to  whom  they  were  chiefly  addressed — 
Englishmen,  whom  it  was  desired  to  see  embittered  against  this 
country — did  not  know  the  facts,  nor  were  they  remembered 
by  many  even  in  our  own  country.  -  The  charge  was  well  calcu- 


100 


THE  NORTII-EASTEKN  BOUNDARY. 


#■] 

«<,L'  f  ;  - 

W-- 

ii-  ^. 

■  1 

\       1 

t':'- 

* 

Inted  to  do  us  harm,  nnd  was,  ns  ngninst  tlio  nation,  without  a 
sh.idow  (»f  reason.  Mr.  Kdward  Everett,  writing  mo  on  tho 
twenty-eighth  of  Fel)ruary,  1K(>2,  said:  "Of  all  th(!  attempts  in 
Kngland  to  raise  u  jU'ejudicH;  against  us,  this  clamor  al)out  tlie 
red-line  map  is  the  most  unjustiHable." 

Whatever  of  wrong  there  may  have  been  in  this  transaction, 
it  was  wrong  against  the  United  Suites,  and  not  against  Eng- 
land. The  latter  had  no  right  to  com])lain  of  an  expedient 
euqiloyed  in  her  helialf,  and  that  might  open  the  way  to  the 
ratification  of  a  treaty  which  she  was  so  desirous  to  have 
executed  as  this.  The  whole  story  being  a  fiction,  or  a  mere 
inference  that  was  j'lainly  without  foundation,  no  evidence 
tending  to  sup})ort  the  liritish  claim  had  been  suppressed.  In- 
deed, it  is  more  than  probable,  from  the  language  of  one  of 
Lord  Ashburton's  letters  to  Mr.  Webster,  that  he  had  seen  this 
very  map ;  and  he  nnist  have  known,  or  he  would  have  made 
other  use  of  it,  what  it  was  designed  to  describe.  This  was 
shown  quite  clearly,  I  think,  in  the  Senate  debate  on  the  ratifi- 
cation of  the  treaty. 

The  treaty  having  been  attacked  by  many  individuals,  and 
among  others,  liy  Senator  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  of  New  York, 
Mr.  Weljster  made  what  he  called  a  "  Vindication ^of  the  treaty 
of  Washington,"  on  the  sixth  and  seventh  days  of  April,  1846, 
in  which  no  reference  is  made  to  any  danger  we  escaped  by  the 
treaty,  from  the  ^-ed-line  .nap  discovery.  In  truth,  the  red-line 
map  theory  never  had  the  slightest  respect  in  this  country  after 
Colonel  Benton's  speeches  in  1843. 

The  treaty  line  of  1842  commenced  at  the  monument,  at  the 
source  of  the  St.  Croix,  as  agreed  by  the  Commissioners  under 
che  treaty  of  1794;  thence  it  followed  the  exploring  line  that 
was  run  and  marked  by  "  the  surveyors  under  the  fifth  article 
of  th.e  treaty  of  Ghent,  to  its  intersection  with  the  river  St. 


THE  NO..rir-EASTKRX  noUNDAUY. 


101 


,  witlumt  a 
tiio  on  the 
ittcnipta  in 
•  a])out  tliu 

transaction, 
j'nin.st  Kn<j;- 
expedient 
way  to  tlie 
IS  to  have 
,  or  a  mere 

0  evidence 
Kssed.     In- 

1  of  one  of 
d  seen  this 
have  made 

This  was 
I  the  ratifi- 

iduals,  and 
New  York, 
:  the  treaty 
Ljjril,  1846, 
ped  by  the 
lie  red-line 
untry  after 

lent,  at  tlie 
lers  under 
'  line  that 
fth  article 
e  river  St. 


John  and  to  the  middle  channel  thereof ;  thence  up  the  middle  of 
the  main  channel  of  the  said  river  St.  John  ti>  the  nututh  of  the 
river  St.  Francis"  (to  which  point  it  is  identical  with  the  Kiii^ 
of  Holland's  line);  "  thence  up  the  middle  channel  of  the  said 
river  St.  Francis,  and  of  the  lakes  throuj^h  which  it  tlows,  to  the 
outlet   of    Lake   Pohenaj^amock  ;   thence  south-westerly,  in  a 
8traij,dit  line  to  a  point  on  the  north-west  branch  of  the  river 
St.  John,  which  point  shall  be  ten  miles  distant  from  the  main 
branch  of  the  St.  John,  in  a  stnuj,dit  Une  in  the  nearest  direc- 
tion ;  but  if  the  said  point  shall  be  found  to  l)e  less  than  seven 
miles  from  the  nearest   point  of  the  summit  or  crest  of  the 
hij^hlands  that  divide  those  rivers  which  em])ty  themselves  into 
the  St.  Lawrence,  from  those  which  fall  into  the  river  St.  John, 
then  the  said  point  shall  be  made  to  recede  down  the  said  nortli- 
west  branch  of  the  river  St.  John,  to  a  point  seven  miles  in  a 
strai<^ht  line  to  said  summit  or  crest;  thence  in  a   straij^dit 
Ime,  in  a  course  about  south,  eight  degrees  west,  to  a  point 
where  the   parallel  of    latitude   of   46°  25'   north   intersects 
the  south-west  branch  of  the  St.  John ;  thence  southerly  Ijy 
the  said  branch,  to  the  source  thereof  in  the  highlands,  at  the 
Metxarraette  portage ;  thence  down  along  the  said  highlands 
which  divide  the  waters  which  empty  themselves  into  the  river 
St.  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  ocean,  to 
the  head  of  Hall's  stream  "  etc. 

Comparing  this  boundary  with  the  line  of  the  King  of  Hol- 
land, it  is  painfully  obvious  how  much  the  State  of  Maine  lost 
by  refusing  to  accept  the  latter,  as  she  indignantlv  did,  in  1831. 
Accepting  that  boundary,  she  would  have  saved  in  territory 
571,520  acres,  or  893  square  miles  (see  Mr.  Webster's  Vindi<.n- 
tion),  and  would  have  received  from  the  United  States  land  in 
the  State  of  Michigan,  of  the  value  of  two  millions  of  dollars. 


102 


THE  NOHTH-EASTERN  HOUXPARY. 


(See  letter  of  tlie  Mtiiiio  ConiniiHsioners  to  Governor  Fjiirfield, 
Junmiry  4JH4.S.) 

Maine  received  from  tlie  United  States,  in  tlio  way  of  com- 
pensation for  her  assent  to  tlie  treaty  of  Wasliington,  tlie  sum 
of  one  hundred  and  Hfty  tlumsand  dollars.  Had  she  ac([uiosced 
in  the  recommendation  of  the  Kin^'  of  Holland,  she  would  have 
saved  to  herself  a  tract  of  country  (j^iven  up  by  the  Ashhurton 
treaty)  as  largo  as  the  counties  of  Androscoggin  and  Sagada- 
hoc and  a  good  part  of  Lincoln,  and  have  received,  under 
General  Jackson's  proposition,  in  1831,  land  of  the  value  of  two 
millions  of  dollars. 

But  it  may  be  said,  she  acquired  the  free  navigation  of  the 
river  St.  John.  It  has  already  appeared,  and  was  shown  in  the 
Senate  debates,  that  by  the  law  of  nations  she  already  possessed 
that  right,  and  more  fully,  as  Col.  Renton  argued,  than  was  set 
down  in  the  text  of  the  treaty.  But,  waiviYig  that  point,  she 
had  it  practically,  and  would  have  enjoyed  it.  For  the  interests 
of  the  city  of  St.  John,  and  of  the  Province  as  a  whole,  would 
have  placed  it  on  a  satisfactory  and  permanent  basis.  So  large 
a  proportion  of  the  trade  and  commerce  of  that  city  depended 
upon  the  trade  in  the  lui^ber  and  other  products  of  north- 
eastern  Maine,  that  the  Province   was  under  stronger  than 


treaty  obligations  to  yield,  and  even  to  facilitate,  the  use  of  the 


river  for  the  transportation  of  these  products  by  our  people. 
But  even  the  treaty,  under  the  construction  put  upon  it,  became 
an  embarrassment  rather  than  a  benefit.  Instead  of  enjoying, 
under  its  provisions,  the  rights  which  the  people  of  Maine  had 
reasonably  anticipated,  they  were  restrained  beyond  all  previous 
experience.  The  treaty,  by  its  terms,  excluded  manufactured 
articles,  and  besides,  contained  the  following  clause :  "  When 
within  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  the  said  produce  shall 
be  dealt  with  as  if  it  were  the  produce  of  saia  Province." 


/ 


THE  N0IITII-EA8TE1;.\  BOUNDAltV. 


103 


Fairfiiild, 

of  coni- 

tlie  sum 

C([ui(»sco(l 

mid  hiivo 

sh))urt()ii 

Sn<,'a(la- 
d,  under 
le  of  two 

)n  of  the 
vn  in  the 
possessed 
1  was  set 
)oint,  she 

interests 
le,  would 

So  large 
iepended 
)f  north- 
jer  than 
ie  of  the 
r  people.' 
i,  became 
mjoying, 
aine  had 
previous 
factured 

"When 
ice  shall 


'/ 


:ovmce. 


>» 


This  was  a  moat  unfortunate  clause ;  for  in  virtue  of  it  the 
Province  assumed  to  collect,  and  in  fact  did  collec*  ^tiiiai>au« 
on  lumher  and  timl)er  cut  in  Maine,  in  the  same  manner  and 
to  the  same  extent  that  it  would  have  done  if  they  had  lu^en 
cut  in  New  lirunswick.  This  is  the  way  in  which  it  was 
effected.  New  Brunswick  levied  an  export  duty,  in  lieu  of 
stumpage,  on  all  lumber  and  timber  cut  in  the  Province  on 
which  stumpage  was  due  thereto,  and  as  by  the  treaty,  the 
lumber  and  tim))er  cut  in  Maine  were  to  be  dealt  with,  when 
within  the  Province,  as  if  they  were  the  produce  of  the  latter, 
and  since  she  levied  an  export  duty  on  her  own,  she  had,  she 
maintamed,  the  same  right  to  levy  it  on  that  which  came  from 
Maine.  She  did  levy  it  and  collect  it.  Making  the  duty  high 
enough  to  include  her  claims  for  stumpage,  it  covered,  of  course, 
stumpago  on  the  lumber  and  timber  from  the  State.  She  col- 
lected no  other  stumpage.  But  a  Maine  lumberman,  who  had 
paid  stumpage  to  the  State,  or  to  the  proprietor  at  home,  was 
compelled  to  pay  it  again  to  the  Province.  Having  lost  her 
pretended  title  to  the  soil,  she  yet  contrived  to  hold  and  treat 
its  growth  and  products  as  her  own.  Wlien  earnest  remon- 
strance was  made  against  this  extortion  and  abuse  of  the  treaty, 
she  only  replied  that  the  right  was  given  by  it  and  would  be 
exercised.     And  it  was  exercised  until  the  treaty  of  Washington, 

J  in  1871,  when  the  right  to  tax  American  produce  in  transit  to 
an  American  market  was  taken  away. 

To  the  consideration,  so  urgently  and  so  unceasingly  pressed 

**  upon  the  people  of  Maine,  that  the  treaty  as  a  whole  was  ad- 
vantageous to  the  United  States,  and  their  State  should  there- 
fore be  willing  to  set  aside  her  single  interest  and  her  sentiment 
in  deference  to  the  general  good,  they  always  could  answer, 
that  she  had  never  been  unready  to  do  her  duty  to  the  Union — 
that  she  had  been  patient  under  injury  and  indignity  from  a 


104 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


'Hi 


th 


foreign  power,  such  as  had  been  visited  upon  no  other  State ; 
and  this,  too,  when  she  had  occasion  to  feel  that  her  rights 
were  neglected,  and,  as  at  times  it  almost  seemed,  betrayed  by 
the  national  government,  her  constitutional  protector.  And 
they  remembered,  and  could  further  answer,  that  there  had  been 
times  and  opportunities  when  a  just  and  reasonable  arrangement 
could  have  been  effected,  if  the  authorities  at  Washington  had 
been  as  mmdful  of  her  interests  and  honor  as  they  had  never 
failed  to  be  of  smaller  concerns  affecting  other  interests  and 
other  sections  of  the  country  ;  that  a  line  from  near  the  monu- 
ment at  the  head  of  the  St.  Croix  to  Eel  River ;  thence  to  its 
outlet  in  the  river  St.  John,  some  twelve  miles  below  the  town 
of  Woodstock ;  thence  up  the  rivers  St.  John  and  St.  Francis  to 
the  crest  of  the  highlands ;  thence  following  the  line  recom- 
mended by  the  King  of  Holland — was  so  well  understood  at  one 
time  as  being  attainable,  that  large  purchases  of  real  estate  were- 
made  in  the  neighborhood  of  and  above  Eel  river,  upon  the 
advice  of  parties  at  Washington,  who  enjoyed  the  very  best 
means  of  knowing  what  might  have  been  and  was  expected  to 
be  accomplished. 

This  State  well  understood  that  Great  Britain  regarded  the 
right  of  way  across  the  Madawaska  country  as  a  prime  con- 
venience, if  not  as  a  positive  necessity ;  and  she  was  never 
unv/illing,  with  the  consent  of  the  people  residing  there  (and 
which  for  many  years  there  would  have  been  no  difficulty  in 
obtaihing),  to  cede  to  her  so  nmch  of  the  territory  as  was 
needed  for  this  purpose,  and  would  have  been  content  with  a 
reasonable  equivalent  for  so  considerable  a  concession.  That 
Great  Britain  overestimated  the  unportance  of  this  right  of  way, 
has  been  manifest  from  her  subsequent  action.  She  has  practi- 
cally acknowledged  it,  by  insisting  that  the  railway  which  she 
has  aided  in  constructing,  that  connects  Halifax  and  St.  John 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


105 


ler  State; 
ler  rights 
:rayed  by 
;or.  And 
I  had  been 
angement 
igton  had 
lad  never 
rests  and 
he  monu- 
nce  to  its 
the  town 
Francis  to 
le  recom- 
»od  at  one 
itate  were- 
upon  the 
^ery  best 
Dected  to 

irded  the 
ime  con- 
as  never 
lere  (and 
iculty  in 
as  was 
t  with  a 
,  That 
of  way, 
s  practi- 
hich  she 
3t.  John 


with  Quebec  and  Montreal,  should  be  built  upon  a  route  east 
of  the  boundary  line  as  always  claiiii<>d  by  Maine. 

Nor  is  it  quite  easy  for  this  State  to  forget  that  the  more 
valuable  the  considerations  moving  to  the  United  States  in  the 
frontier  changes  of  boundary  in  the  country  west  of  Maine,  the 
larger  were  the  sacrifices  to  which  she  was  -ialled  to  submit. 
For  these  better  boundaries  in  the  west  something  was  neces- 
sary to  be  paid,  and  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Maine  to  make  the 
payment  from  territory  to  which  Congress  had  declared  her 
title  to  be  "  clear  and  unquestionable." 

For  this  large  and  uncalled  for  surrender  of  her  soil,  Maine 
sought  no  money  equivalent.  She  only  sought  compensation  in 
kind — land  for  land — privilege  for  privilege.  She  always  re- 
fused to  treat  the  question  as  one  of  pecuniary  indemnity. 
Wlien,  in  1831,  she  was  asked  to  accept  the  line  of  the  King  of 
Holland,  and  receive  Michigan  lands  of  the  value  of  two 
millions  of  dollars,  she  promptly,  as  has  been  seen,  and  not 
without  a  feeling  of  just  indignation,  rejected  the  terms,  regard- 
ing them  as  unjust  and  derogatory.  And  when,  in  1842,  her 
boundaries  were  so  largely  abridged,  she  declined  to  remember, 
as  against  the  miserable  douceur  with  which  she  was  then  put 
off,  the  greater  compensation  which  she  had  spurned  ten  years 
before. 

There  is  no  fact  in  the  history  of  Maine,  in  which  I  take 
greater  satisfaction  than  this — that,  while  feeling  keenly  the  in- 
justice done  to  her,  when  once  the  sacrifice  became  inevitable, 
she  was  too  proud  to  higgle  about  the  price. 

The  story  which  I  have  here  so  imperfectly  told,  honorable 
as  it  is  to  the  people  of  Maine,  and  for  the  most-  part  creditable 
to  her  authorities,  forms  an  interesting  and  important  chapter 
in  her  annals,  and  if  it  be  true,  as  we  are  told,  that  history  is 


106 


THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY. 


philosophy  teaching  by  example,  it  is  one  that  may  be  read 
with  interest  and  profit  by  the  present  and  by  future  genera- 
tions. 


'i 


f- 


if 


^1.1 


ay  be  read 
ure  genera- 


CORPwECTION 

111  Section  11,  on  ]y.iv;v  15,  it  is  said  :     "  Tlio  Couiniissionors 

having  agreed   upon  the  river,  decided  tliat  its  source  was  in 

what  is  now  known  as  Round  Lake,  the  same,  F  sui)i)ose,  that 

is  laid  down  as  North  Lake  in   Greenleaf's  niaj)  of  18ir),'\^c. 

This  is  a  mistake.     The  Round  Lake  wliich  the  Connnissioners 

first  agreed  upon  was  the  lowest  of  the  western  Sclioodic  Lakes. 

It  had  been  claimed  by  the   British  agent  as  the  true  head  of 

the  St.   Croix,  in  an  elaborate  argument  based  ujjou  the  belief 

that  it  would  give  a  line  to  the  highlands  so  far  to  the  W(;st  of 

one  starting  from^  Lake  Cheputnecook,  as  to  leave  the  sources 

of  the  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs  within  Rritisli 

territory.     But  no  sooner  h;,.!   lie  discovered  that  this  was  an 

error,  than  he  took  steps  to  have  the  branch  of  tlio  St.  C^roix, 

against  which  he  had  been  earnestly  contending,  adoptcid  as  the 

true  river.     He  seems  to  have  had  no  difficulty  in  bringing  about 

this  change.      The  "bad  luck"  in  this  case  must  be  largely 

ascribed  to  the  ignorance  of  the  American  Commissioners. 

There  seems  to  have  been,  at  first,  a  misunderstanding  on 

both  sides,  as  to  the  effect  of  their  respective  claims.      P.ut  the 

British  agent  was  soonest  undweived. 

The  line  claimed. by  this  agent,  as  originally  understood  and 

contended  for  by  him,  would  indeed  have  set  aside  "  the  plahi 

provisions  of  the  treaty  and  its  undisputed  history."     Jhit  as  it 

would  have  been  run,  it  would  have  taken  from  New  Ihninswick 

a  strip  of  country  ten  miles  wide  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 

in    length.     See,  letter   of   Robert  Liston   to   Ward  Chipnuui, 

October  23,  1798. 

At  all  events,  the  British  appear  to  liave  had  their  own  way 

before  the  Commissioners.     When  tliev  I'^ked  for  liound  Lake, 

they  received  it ;   and   when  they  wanted  Cheputnecook,  they 

had  no  difficulty  in  getting  it. 
[Tofa«^pp.  l(>n.| 


i 


